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...