One of the smallest and most traditional of Thailand’s provincial capitals, Lamphun has no shopping malls or superstores, no ‘walking streets’, no tuk tuks, not even a cinema and barely a single building over four storeys. It also sees very few tourists.
Buy our Lamphun eGuide for A$2.99
This 18 page guide includes all of our coverage for Lamphun in one neat, easy to read PDF guidebook.
Download link emailed straight to you.
Top places to stay
Top things to do
- Wat Phra That Haripunchai
- Hariphunchai National Museum
- The best thing to do in Lamphun
- Wat Chama Thewi (Wat Kukut)
- Wat Mahawan
- See all sights
Transportation
Hotels, food, sights, transport quick links
Keep reading to learn more about Lamphun!
Yet this quiet backwater was once one of the region’s most important towns. A powerful Mon city state, formerly known as Haripunchai and established by a Queen Chama Devi in the seventh century, Lamphun was strategically placed between Bagan to the west, the Nanchao kingdom to the north and the Khmer dominated Mon states of central Thailand.
Temple detail on the outskirts of Lamphun. Photo: Stuart McDonald
Lamphun city has a Chama Devi road, temple, stupa, monument, restaurant; Chama Devi this, Chama Devi that, the woman’s ubiquitous. So who was she exactly? Well, a seventh century semi-legendary queen, and like many similar figures it’s impossible to say how much we think we know today is true. It begins with some odd stuff like being born in a lotus flower, and then she was adopted, raised and married off by the king of Lavo, a Mon city state (and modern Lopburi). For whatever reason, she left him and moved north with some followers to settle in the Ping valley.
The story gets a bit weird at this point as it involves a magical city, the virgin birth of twins, struggles with local Mon tribes and a run in with a local king whom she supposedly defeated by fashioning him a hat out of her underwear. But the queen found time to establish the city of Haripunchai and is considered today (at least by locals if not historians) to be responsible for the construction of the original city wall, moat and most of the old town’s ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 600 words.)
Get the full story.
Create an account.
Becoming a Travelfish subscriber costs A$35 for a year. Benefits include:
1) Full access to the site
2) 250+ PDF guides
3) Discount coupons
4) 50% off our travel planning service
5) And of course, our gratitude and a warm fuzzy feeling for helping us stay in business!
By
Mark Ord.
Last updated on 10th October, 2016.
