JTBF Mission to Thailand 2009 (2/23-2/27)

Study Tour to Phimai Historical Park

Yukio Katono (Chief of Long Stay Committee, JTBF)

February 27th (Friday) Khao-yai to Phimai Historical Park

  7：55　Departed from Sak Phu Duen Hotel ＆ Resort. The bus aimed at Nakhorn Ratchasima. The road was well-paved.

  9：20　Took a rest at a gas station along side of a bypass to Nakhorn Ratchasima. In majority of the service area, gas stations were equipped with convenience stores and restaurants.

  10：10　Arrived at Phimai.

February 27th (Friday)　At Phimai Historical Park

  When I visited Phimai 10 years ago (it was before I visited to see Angkor Wat), I was impressed by its huge size and sacred calmness. This time, it looked smaller from outside as it were overwhelmed by the surrounding town, more developed than before.

  However, once stepping into the temple district, I felt the atmosphere was changed to what matched to the history and tradition. It was a weekday. Other than a few monks and student groups being led by teachers, there was not many tourists. I happened to find the enshrined Buddha image corresponded to that of Saturday (the same birthday of a week as mine).

  Phimai monument, being called Thai Angkor Wat, is the most popular Khmer monument among those being discovered within Thailand so far. Phimai means "heaven". In the center, there are 3 towers which enshrine Hindu Gods. The district is rectangular shaped, 565 meters width and 1030 meters length, and is surrounded by a moat. There also is a theory that Phimai was a trial model of Angkor Wat.

  Referring to Angkor dynasty, it expanded its territory, at the peak, from South-Central of Vietnam to South of Laos on the Eastern wing, from East-North of Thailand to Sukhothai/Ayutthaya on the Western wing. Angkor road starts from Siem Reap where Angkor Wat is located, extends to the West, crossing through Thailand. More than 130 Khmer monuments are discovered so far.

  In 2007, Thailand applied for World Cultural Heritage for inclusion of Phimai, Phanom-Rung and Muang-Tham. The application was declined. In 2008, Preah Vihear of Cambodia, located on the border and called Khao Phra Wihan in Thailand, was registered as World Cultural Heritage, which caused the boundary dispute between both countries. My personal view on this subject is that Thailand could take advantage of Phimai and other monuments to encourage tourists, domestic and foreign, enjoy a trip around those historical assets.

February 27th (Friday)　Phimai Historical Park to Bangkok

  11：20　Sai-ngam Park
The park is a forest of Bengal lime trees, which proliferate by means of hanging branches reaching down to the earth. Here in the past, one Bengal lime tree proliferated to many trees, finally to form a forest. People considered it a sign of prosperity and started to worship the mother tree placing a small shrine at the root.

  We toasted to completion of the study tour in a Thai restaurant in front of the park, ordering Gai-Yan and Som-Tham, the foods which represent I-san (North-Eastern Thailand).

  12：15　Departed for Nakhorn Rachasima.

  13：10　The bus came close to Thao Suranari monument, which was built in honor of Thai heroin Thao Suranari, called 'Ya Mo' locally. It is said that she led Thai people to fight against Lao troops. We looked at her statue through windows of the bus.

  14；40 Entering Pak Chong town, we stopped at a road-side shop to buy wines and fruits. They also sold Ma-praang (shaped like loquat) and several kinds of grapes, which, in the previous time, we could never find at road-side shops. Just beforehand, we bought and ate corns , which reminded us of sweet taste of the traditional corn.

  15：15　Arrived at Imperial Queens Park.
  The traffic, which was smooth until Don-muang airport, was shut off for a while due to royal passage of Princess Sirindhorn. In spite of that, we arrived at the hotel earlier than scheduled.

  Looking back the bus tour to I-san of this time, we found traffic conditions were much improved. Roads were well-paved and widened. Service facilities were also improved as represented by the service area which was combined with gas station, convenience store, restaurant and rest house.

At the end of the study tour

  Because it was just 2 days trip to Khao-yai and Phimai, our observation might be a superficial one. Even if it was so, we sensed broadness and deepness of natural resources of Thailand.

  We would like to express our appreciation to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for their supports. It is our pleasure to cooperate with TAT to make Amazing I-san (East-Northern Thailand) better known to Japanese society.