The ancient city of Sukhothai holds a special place for Thais. It's here that Thai history says the first "Thai" kingdom was established in the 13th century. The city is much older than that. It served as a northern outpost for the Khmer empire for several centuries before the native Thais exerted their independence in the face of Angkor's waning power. It was a man who later became King Intradit who first threw off the control of the Khmer and established the kingdom of Sukhothai. Under the third king, Ramkhamhaeng, the nascent Thai culture flourished. King Ramkhamhaeng, who ruled towards the end of the 13th century, is credited with the creation of the Thai alphabet, as well as uniting the various Thai states into the first Thai empire.
Map of Sukhothai ProvinceClick on the destinations for more information.
Sukhothai's power lasted only around two centuries. Around 1468, it became a vassal state of Ayutthaya. The city slowly declined and fell to ruin, until it was "rediscovered" in a way by the man who would later be King Rama IV (Mongkut). King Mongkut's main discovery was a stone stele describing Sukhothai as a veritable paradise. Modern scholars have cast doubt on the authenticity of the inscription, but it's discovery served a timely purpose: fostering a feeling of nationalism in the Thais at a time when they were facing threats on all sides from colonial powers.
Sukhothai was designated a national historical park by the Thai government, and also has UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It's sister city, Si Satchanalai, is also an historical park and should be included in any visit, while a third site, Kampaeng Phet (or Kampaengpet, or Kam Paeng Phet) was also inscribed a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Sukhothai listing. Both Si Satchanalai and Kampaeng Phet are full - separate - day trips out of Sukhothai.
In a hurry? Don't want to wade through a lot of pages of information? Then just read this one. We've summarized all you really need to know about Sukhothai in a nutshell. Of course, there are still links to all the details, if you want to know more.
Is Sukhothai For You? Sukhothai is definitely not for everyone. By and large, the only thing to do here is visit the ancient sites, so if you tend to think that every old temple looks like just another pile of rocks or bricks, Sukhothai is probably not for you.
One of the reasons more people don't visit Sukhothai, aside from the lack of accommodations, is that the ancient capital isn't well connected to the other major tourist centers. It's too far from Bangkok or Chiang Mai to make a reasonable day-trip destination, and until recently, it didn't have an airport. The nearest train station is in the neighboring province of Phitsunalok, although train travel in Thailand isn't very appealing.
The Sukhothai Historical Park encompasses the "old" walled city of Sukhothai as well as the outlying temples around it. The inner city was enclosed by a concentric set of earthen walls. There are around a dozen or so major monuments within the inner city, including the Ramkamhaeng National Museum, which houses many of the smaller artifacts found around the old city.
There are a number of other important temples and historic sites scattered around outside the walls of the old city.
Sukhothai doesn't have much to offer for accommodations. There are just a few rather common hotels and a couple of newer resorts, some of which are quite nice. When selecting a hotel, you'll need to make a decision about which "Sukhothai" you want to stay in. There are, in effect, two Sukhothais: The "old" Sukhothai is the ancient city where all the historical sights are, and which was more or less abandoned in the 18th century.
Si Satchanalai was a parallel city of Sukhothai, located about 70 kilometers to the north. The two cities were tightly linked, both physically and culturally. While the king ruled in Sukhothai, his crown prince governed in Si Satchanalai.
Map of Si Satchanalai Area The area around Si Satchanalai appears to have been occupied long before the founding of the city. The archaeological finds at Wat Chum Chuen shows that people had been living here since the 3rd or 4th centuries.
8 February 2009
I'll be honest, the Legendha was not my first choice, but my original selection was full and I was offered this hotel as an alternative. There aren't many choices around the old city, so I agreed. On arrival, it at first seemed that my worst "fears" were realized. The "curb appeal" of this place is near zilch. The reception building on the main highway is a ramshackle building, and it took some time to even find the reception desk.
Like all of Thailand, Sukhothai has three seasons: the "cool" season from November to February, the "hot" season from March to May, and the "rainy" season from June to October. The cool season is the traditional time to visit, but it's also when sights will be the most crowded, and hotel rates the highest. Conventional wisdom has it that the rainy season is the worst time to come, but this is not necessarily true.
