Chaiyaphum & Phetchabun Thailand Guide

In September 2023, a quiet archaeological park in southern Phetchabun joined Thailand’s UNESCO World Heritage list — and most travellers still haven’t heard of it. Si Thep was a real city for nearly a thousand years, from about the 3rd–5th centuries CE to the 13th: first a Dvaravati Buddhist town of moats, ponds and brick stupas, later a Hindu-influenced city under Khmer sway. Today its monuments stand in open green parkland, spread between an inner walled town, an outer town, and one enormous stupa standing alone in the fields — Khao Khlang Nok, among the largest Dvaravati structures known anywhere. A Tale of Two Towns Si Thep’s plan is its first wonder: a double city. The inner town, about 2 km across, holds the main monuments inside its moat and earthen ramparts; the outer town stretches east with its own walls, reservoirs and temple mounds. A park tram and shaded lanes make the scale manageable. At the information centre, a small museum sets out what archaeologists found here — i...

Pa Hin Ngam means 'forest of beautiful stones,' and the name delivers twice over. At the western edge of Chaiyaphum, where the Khorat Plateau falls away toward central Thailand, erosion has sculpted a field of sandstone into mushrooms, towers and shapes locals read as nails, radar dishes and hens. Then, every rainy season, the rocky ground between the stones erupts in pink: fields of Siam tulips — dok krachiao — that draw visitors from across Thailand. Add a cliff-top viewpoint at the very end of the land, and Pa Hin Ngam becomes Chaiyaphum's most complete national park day out. Lan Hin Ngam: The Stone Garden The rock field, Lan Hin Ngam, is the park's original attraction — it was protected in 1986, years before the park around it was declared. A loop trail wanders among the formations, some taller than a house, balanced and hollowed by wind and water over millions of years. Come in the early morning when the stone glows warm and the crowds are still on the road from ...

Chaiyaphum does not shout. This is Isan's quiet western edge — forested hills, farming towns and, 21 kilometres north of the city, one of the region's most loved waterfalls. Tat Ton National Park covers 218 square kilometres of the Phu Laen Kha range, and its heart is a broad curtain of water pouring over a wide rock shelf into a deep, swimmable pool. In November, after the rains, Tat Ton runs full and clear, the forest is at its greenest, and the cool-season air makes the trails a pleasure. This is Chaiyaphum's family day out, perfected over generations. The Waterfall Itself Tat Ton waterfall is about 6 metres high but a full 50 metres wide — less a plunge than a shining rock water-slide. Children paddle in the shallows at the edge, teenagers slide on the smooth stone where locals point out the safe lines, and families spread picnic mats in the shade with grilled chicken, som tam and sticky rice from the entrance stalls. Arrive before 10am on weekends if you want your pi...

Every year, for just a few weeks in the rainy season, the hills of Pa Hin Ngam National Park in Chaiyaphum turn pink. The Siam tulip — dok krachiao in Thai — blooms in sweeping fields across the high meadows, and for a short window the park becomes one of the most beautiful places in Thailand. But Pa Hin Ngam (its name means "beautiful stone forest") is worth visiting long after the flowers fade: its sandstone rock garden, cliffs, and viewpoints are a year-round wonder. The park sits on the edge of the Phetchabun mountain range in Thep Sathit district, about 100 kilometres southwest of Chaiyaphum town. At 800 metres above sea level, it is noticeably cooler than the plains below, and the morning mist that rolls over the tulip fields is half the magic of a visit. Siam tulips in the mist at Pa Hin Ngam. Photo: Wikimedia Commons — view the file on Wikimedia Commons . The Siam tulip season Dok krachiao is not a true tulip at all — it is a wild ginger relative, Curcuma alismatifoli...

This blog rotates to Phetchabun this time, and to the temple that stops traffic on Highway 12. Wat Pha Sorn Kaew — "the temple on a glass cliff" — sits on an 830-metre peak near Khaem Son in Khao Kho district, and it is two wonders in one: a pagoda cloaked in more than five million colourful mosaic tiles and pottery shards, and, across the road, five giant white Buddhas seated one inside the silhouette of the next, visible from kilometres away. A Young Temple With an Old Soul's Ambition Unlike most sights on this blog, Wat Pha Sorn Kaew is new — founded in 2004 as a meditation retreat, chosen for the beauty and quiet of the Khao Kho mountains. The builders decorated the main pagoda and surrounding buildings with mosaic upon mosaic: broken pottery, tiles, beads and glass worked into swirling patterns that reward a very slow walk. Look closely and whole teapots and bowls appear inside the designs. The exterior, gardens and adjoining buildings are open to visitors; parts o...

Getting to Chaiyaphum and Phetchabun is easy, and getting around them is easy too, provided you have a car. The region is served by good buses from Bangkok and the main cities, and the roads are good — the classic way to see the region is to drive the loop from Lom Sak up to Khao Kho and Phu Thap Boek, then back down through Phetchabun town. The region's attractions are spread out, and the public transport is thin: a car is not a luxury here, it is the way to see the region. Getting to Chaiyaphum By bus: Buses from Bangkok's Mo Chit station run to Chaiyaphum town several times a day, and the journey takes about 5 hours. The buses are comfortable air-conditioned coaches, and the price is about 300–400 baht. The buses also run to the main towns in the province, including Phu Khiao and Kaset Sombun. The bus station in Chaiyaphum town is in the centre, and it is a short walk to the hotels and the morning market. By car: The drive from Bangkok to Chaiyaphum town takes about 4–5...