The smell of freshly mown grass may somehow make you want to take off your shoes and walk on the neat lawn. Under the shade of tall trees, I strolled barefoot around some ancient ruins within the old city wall of Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park and could even spend a whole day in this compact destination.
Located in the heart of the city of Kamphaeng Phet's Muang district, the historical park is listed as the Unesco's World Heritage site in 1991 as part of the historic town of Sukhothai, along with Si Satchanalai Historical Park in Sukhothai province.
Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park is the smallest among the three. It covers a total area of 2,425 rai (388 hectare). Sukhothai Historical Park, on the other hand, is as large as 43,750 rai (7,000 hectare) and the area of Si Satchanalai Historical Park is 28,212 rai (4,514 hectare).
Founded in the 13th-15th centuries, the three ancient towns are in different locations, but were linked by an ancient road called thanon Phra Ruang, according to a record of the Fine Arts Department, which oversees the three historical parks.
While Sukhothai was regarded as the capital of the first Kingdom of Siam, which is Thailand today, Si Satchanalai was the centre of ceramic export industry while Kamphaeng Phet was the kingdom's southern frontier. It is located about 80km south of Sukhothai.
The old town had a strong army and durable city wall to protect Sukhothai Kingdom from invasions of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the central region. The city wall was made of laterite. It had four forts and was surrounded with a 30m-wide moat for managing water resources in the city.
But after the Sukhothai Kingdom was ruled by Ayutthaya in 1450, Kamphaeng Phet became the main defence outpost to protect the kingdom from Burmese troops.
The Fine Arts Department believes that the ruins in Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park were created by artisans from both the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya kingdoms.
Take the ruins inside the old city wall as an example. Among 20 ruins, the most outstanding is Wat Phra Kaeo. According to the Fine Arts Department, Wat Phra Kaeo was the oldest structure inside the city wall.
The temple has the same name as the Emerald Buddha Temple in Bangkok because the ruined temple once housed the Emerald Buddha image.
Among the remains of the temple include a tall bell-shaped pagoda that had 32 sculptures of mythical lions at its base. Next to it is the remainder of the temple's vihara (prayer hall) which houses one large reclining Buddha sculpture in front of two large seated Buddha sculptures. Next to the vihara is an old ruin of a stupa, which has 32 elephant sculptures encircling the base. Each sculpture shows only the front part of an elephant with its head, long tusks and two front legs.
Next to the area of Wat Phra Kaeo are the remains of an old palace, a shrine to the Hindu god Shiva, and Wat Phrathat, which still have two large stupas and the old temple wall.
Outside the city wall, the Fine Arts Department estimates that there are 37 ruins. Among them are three must-see attractions, which are located close to one another.
First is Wat Chang Rob, which features a huge pagoda base encircled by 68 elephant sculptures. A closer inspection of the sculptures reveals the carving of elephant decorations around their neck and legs. Carved bodhi leaves are seen between some standing elephants.
The pagoda also has a staircase at four sides. Flanked by one staircase are sculptures of mystical lions and angels.
It is believed that the temple was built near the end of the Sukhothai period. Its bell-shaped pagoda had a square base as large as 31 metres. In front of the chedi was a prayer hall, believed to be as large as 34m in length and 17m in width. There was also an ancient earth pond in front of the hall, but without water.
Not far from Wat Chang Rob is Wat Phra Si Iriyabot. The temple got its name from the four sculptures of the seated, standing, reclining and walking Buddha. However, only one standing sculpture remains today.
The last temple is Wat Sing. It was built during the Sukhothai period and renovated during the Ayutthaya period. The temple also has a prayer hall in front of its main stupa. The base of the stupa does not have either mythical lions or elephants, but four seated Buddha images.
Since Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park is smaller when compared to Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai historical parks, only a third of visitors who travel to Sukhothai will make their journey to the neighbouring province of Kamphaeng Phet.
The lack of public services to link the sites together in one loop is one reason, while others might be because visitors think the ruins are similar, while different in scope.
I like Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park, especially the ruins inside the city wall. The park is less crowded and you can have your own space to relax on a neat lawn and under the shade of trees.
Carved elephants at a pagoda base in Wat Chang Rob.
The elephant sculptures with carved ornaments in Wat Chang Rob.
Two of three bell-shaped pagodas still remain in Wat Phrathat.
