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Central
Thailand / Lopburi
Photo: Town of Lopburi
Lopburi is
an interesting town, 153km (96mi) north of Bangkok, which has
been important in various periods of history reaching back roughly
1000 years. It was first an important Khmer town
(the Khmers ruled over much what is today Thai territory for the
first two centuries of the millennium). When the Khmer influence
waned in what is today northern and central Thailand, Lopburi
became rather independent and ruled over a territory reaching
from the city to the shores of the Gulf of Thailand. The realm
was known as the Kingdom of Lavo, still a Khmer state.
It remained in existence until the end of the 13th century when
the Thais, who had already migrated in large numbers from the
north and had settled down in what is today Thai territory, fought
against the Khmers and declared their independence as the Kingdom
of Sukhothai. Since then Lopburi has been ruled by Thais.
Many monuments
in Khmer style were constructed in Lopburi, during Khmer
rule and even later, and much of them can still be seen today.
In 1664, King
Narai, one of the most important kings in the history of Ayutthaya,
made Lopburi the second capital of the realm and resided
there for much of his lifetime. Many structures were built with
the help of French architects. Therefore, the architectural
style of Lopburi in the reign of King Narai was half Thai and
half Western as is evident in structures like the Royal Palace
or the Royal Reception House.
King Narai
brought Western technology into use in the observatory
and by laying terra-cotta pipes to supply water to the
palace.
Apart from
this, King Narai was the first Thai monarch to establish diplomatic
relations with European powers, especially France, and introduced
a friendly policy towards foreigners, especially Europeans (though
this policy was abandoned by his successors).
Lopburi was
not much destroyed by the Burmese army that completely
burned down Ayutthaya in 1767. Therefore, it's probably a better
place to see Siamese architecture of the Ayutthaya period
than Ayutthaya itself.
More information
on Lopburi:
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