Si Satchanalai National Park Park

Hours: Daily 8am-4:30pm (national park/archaeological site hours may vary)

Located in Sukhothai Province; reachable by road from the provincial capital Sukhothai (about 30-60 minutes depending on route). Public buses and local transport connect the town to park entrances; car or hired vehicle is most convenient.

• Arrive early to explore the ruins and archaeological sites before midday heat.
• Combine the park visit with the nearby Si Satchanalai Historical Park to see well-preserved temple ruins.
• Wear light, sun-protective clothing; shade is limited around some ruins.

Si Satchanalai-Chaliang Historical Park is an atmospheric expanse of temple ruins that you can visit instead of, or as well as, Sukhothai Historical Park. Set among low-lying hills pockmarked with ruins from the Sukhothai era, it lies about 60 kilometres north of Sukhothai and holds UNESCO World Heritage status like its larger neighbour. More than 200 temples and monuments have been rediscovered within the park, which receives far fewer visitors than Sukhothai and whose ruins have been left in a rawer state, both of which appeal to some travellers.

The most visited temples are Wat Chang Lom and Wat Jet Taew, which stand opposite each other near the entrance. Both date to the late 13th century: the former is a chedi ringed by elephant sculptures, the latter contains 34 small chedi arranged in seven rows. Other significant sites include the hilltop Wat Khao Phanom Pheung and Wat Nang Phaya, whose Sri Lankan-style chedi is thought to date from the 15th or 16th century.

At Chaliang, a couple of kilometres east, Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat features a Khmer-style prang and a laterite bell-shaped chedi, along with sitting and standing Buddhas. It is reached directly from Highway 101 by a wobbly pedestrian suspension bridge over the Yom River, and you must duck to pass through the temple entrance, as the walls have sunk over the years. A short way west, Wat Chao Chan has a prang that archaeologists believe was built in the 12th century; Chaliang in fact predates the Sukhothai Kingdom, and was once a flourishing part of the ancient Khmer empire. The small road heading north from the park passes the Sawankhalok Kilns, famed for the quality of their ceramics throughout the Sukhothai era.