Surin

When famous French archeologist/explorer Etienne Aymonier visited Surin Town at the end of the 19th century he found a collection of bamboo huts on a sandy knoll surrounded by orchards and gardens. He also found the layout of what had clearly been an important city in the Angkor Empire, with 2 large enclosure palisades and a wide moat, surrounding a square citadel with 4 entrance gates.

Indeed the local name for Surin at that time was 'Banteay Srok' -- 'Citadel of the Region' or 'Regional Fortress' in Khmer and a, rather melodramatic, local saying was, 'if Surin shall fall then so shall Khorat', so it was, if not a major urban site, as the lack of temple ruins would seem to indicate, then at least an important Angkor military settlement.

With the decline of the Khmer empire some cities such as Angkor Thom, Banteay Chmar, Beng Melea etc were completely abandoned, whilst the more robust regional centres such as Phimai, Lopburi and Khorat continued to prosper under Thai control. Surin seems to have fallen between the two, just clinging on to avoid the 'lost city' category but reverting to an unimportant little village! In any case nothing of the old city now remains, (though some of the old moat is still there in front of Wat Chompon), and over the past hundred years it's made a comeback developing into a medium sized, modern, but quiet and pleasant provincial city and capital of the province of the same name.

A final word from Monsieur Aymonier: he placed Surin in the Laos section of his research, it being slightly closer to the Lao chiefdom of Ubon than the Thai outpost of Khorat. (Though, during that period, most of Lao came under effective Thai control even if it was nominally independent.) Anyway, the Lao township with a mostly Khmer and Suay population, (Suay or Kuoy - a local Mon-Khmer ethnic group), is reflected in the current ethnic mix where much of the southern and rural part of the province is still inhabited by Khmer and Suay speakers whilst the urban population is now majority Thai, Thai/Chinese and Thai/Lao.

These days Surin is best known for its pachyderms and annual elephant round-up but it's got a few other things going for it too. Firstly it's simply a very friendly and pleasant town and an agreeable spot to hang out in for a few days. There's plenty of Khmer ruins within striking distance, you can go and checkout the 'elephant village', even when the festival's not on, visit some of the handicraft, (e.g. weaving or silk), villages, whilst in town there's an excellent museum. On top of that Surin is particularly well endowed on the restaurant and bar front and there are some good deals accommodation-wise. (You can also check-out the very lively central market on Krung Sri Nai Road.)

Greater Surin has a population of around 100,000 and it's some 450 kms from Bangkok

If you're planning on heading to Cambodia from Surin, there are a half dozen buses a day from Surin to the border crossing at Chong Jom / O Smach, from where you can either grab a share taxi to Siem Reap or get to Samraong first from where you can either continue onto Siem Reap by share taxi or head east for Anlong Veng.


Orientation
The private Surin Ruamphaet near the railway station is the best hospital in town. T: (044) 511 523
The regular police can be reached on T:(044) 511 007, the Tourist Police on 1155 and the Highway Police on 1193 (for if you've broken down or had an accident). The TAT has a small but very helpful office with English pamphlets and maps of Surin available. Finally for some useful info in English check out www.surinfarang.com for discussions, info and tips for Surin from local expats.