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. Some of these, such as Wat Si Chum and Wat Saphan Hin, should not be missed by the serious admirer of Buddhist art.
Map of Old Sukhothai
Planning Your Visit
Unfortunately, most people visit Sukhothai as part of a group tour that stops in Sukhothai for an hour or so before moving on. However, if you're truly interested in Thai art or history, and traveling on your own, then Sukhothai is well worth a couple of full days. You can see the inner city and some of the outer sites on one day, and the other outer sites the next.
The best way to get around, in my opinion, is by bicycle. You can rent them from several stalls outside the entrance, or from the park just inside the main entrance. The rental cost is just around 30 Baht. The logical place to start is Wat Mahathat in the center of the old city, then procede on to the adjacent temples such as Wat Sa Sri, Wat Chana Songkhram and the Ramkamhaeng Monument.
You can continue in a northward path, taking in Wat Phra Phai Luang and Wat Si Chum. From here, head west to Wat Saphan Hin and the other forest temples. You can do the southern and eastern sites the next day. Visit the museum in the late afternoon, when you want to be out of the sun.
Historical Park Admission
The park has a rather complicated admission system. The sites are divided into five zones: the inner city, north, west, south and east sites. Admission to each zone is 100 Baht -or- you can purchase a pass to all five zones for 350 Baht. However, the passes are only good for one day, so if you plan to spread your visits over several days, it's best to purchase admission when needed.
The sites are basically open during daylight hours.
Sukhothai Tourist Information Center
There is a tourist information center north of the city, facing Wat Phra Phai Luang, but on my visit, there wasn't anyone there to serve the tourist. It is a beautiful building, with a good model of the old city and vicinity, but don't expect to find any detailed help there.
Sukhothai Sound & Light Shows
During the "cool" season from October to April, a historical drama is performed at Wat Sa Sri. The performances are on the first Saturday of each month, and include a buffet picnic dinner. The performance is set against the brightly lit temple, and concludes with fireworks. It's quite a show.
In addition, there are some other major shows and events put on around the old city, especially on Loy Krathong.
Just inside the main entrance to the historical park is the Ramkamhaeng branch of the National Museum. The buildings house some of the small original sculptures found during excavations of the city, as well as reproductions of several of the larger artifacts. The museum now includes several buildings as well as a sculpture garden.
Since the museum opens after the park does, it's best to save a visit until later in the day.
The twice-life-size statue of King Ramkamhaeng King Ramkamhaeng ruled Sukhothai between 1279 and 1298, approximately. He was not the founder of Sukhothai, but is widely regarded as its greatest ruler. He is credited with 'inventing' the Thai alphabet, by adapting a Khmer script that was derived from the Indian Devanagari written language. During his reign, the territory under his rule extended well down the Malay peninsula, from eastern Burma to much of Laos.
The old inner city was enclosed by a rectangular wall about 1.8 kilometers by 1.4 kilometers. The walls consist of two earthen berms and a third wall made of earth but cased in laterite. Water filled the space between the three walls. A single gate in each wall controlled access to the city. Three of the gates were fortified.
Map of Sukhothai's Walled City The eastern third of the old inner city is occupied by modern buildings, mostly small shops, guest houses and the homes of those who make their livings off the visitors to the historical park.
Wat Chana Songkhram Just north of Wat Mahathat is the imposing chedi of Wat Chana Songkhram. The temple appears to have been built around the fourteenth century. The bell-shaped stupa is a very good example of the "Sukhothai" style that is considered the highest form of Thai art. To the east are the ruins of the main prayer hall (wiharn), of which very little remains.
Wat Chana Songkhram is between Wat Mahathat and the King Ramkamhaeng Monument.
One of the elephant statues at the corner of Wat Chang Lom In a somewhat obscure location east of the old city walls, Wat Chang Lom is seldom visited - so much the better for you! I probably wouldn't have visited it were it not for a bit of serendipity. I was staying the Legendha Resort during my visit, when I noticed the spire of the temple's main chedi poking up behind the hotel.
Wat Chedi Ngam The hills around Sukhothai are home to several forest temples, a tradition that derives directly from the life of the Buddha. Not much of these once large and important temples remains aside from foundations and some dilapidated stupas, but following the road from Wat Saphan Hin southward and exploring the area can be interesting. Wat Chedi Ngam - "the temple of the beautiful stupa" - is one of these.
Wat Chedi Si Hong Just across the road from Wat Chetuphon is another, smaller, temple called Wat Chedi Si Hong ("temple of the four rooms"). The temple was built in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. The bell-shaped chedi is not the most elegant in Sukhothai, but the base is richly decorated with some quite elaborate and unique stucco sculptures.
The main assembly hall to the east of the stupa has the remains of some unusually large and numerous stone columns.
Directly south of the gate through the southern wall is Wat Chetuphon, the largest and most important of the temples south of the city. At the center of the main complex is a large brick structure which has a different Buddha image on each side. The first image you see as you approach from the east is a massive and very striking walking Buddha. This form of Buddha image is quite rare, and even though this one is missing its head, it's still very sublime.
Some of the many Buddhas and pagodas of Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai Near the center of the walled city is the largest and most important temple, Wat Mahathat. The huge almost square complex once held five ponds, ten prayer halls and around 200 stupas (chedi). Exact construction dates are not known, but the temple was most certainly built and expanded over the course of many years. The main construction was probably done from the late 13th through to the mid 14th centuries, but like many Thai temples, Wat Mahathat was continually modified and added to up until the old city was abandoned in the 18th century.
Wat Mangkorn - and my bike This "temple of the dragon" sits in the shade of a large banyan tree. The highlight here is the glazed ceramic railing that encircles the temple. It appears to be unique in all of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai.
Other remains include the truncated main stupa, which sits on a large platform that also has the ruins of the prayer hall and ordination hall. The ordination hall (ubosot) is still surrounded by its boundary markers, pairs of leaf-shaped stones set on brick bases.
The ruins of Wat Phra Phai Luang in Sukhothai Wat Phra Phai Luang is the largest temple outside the city walls, and is second only to Wat Mahathat in size. In fact, the temple is older than the city, and was most likely built late in the twelfth century during the reign of the great Khmer king, Jayavarman VII (the king who had Angkor Thom built).
A couple of monks posing in the ruins of Wat Phra Phai Luang While the temple was obviously quite large and imposing in its day, you need to use a lot of imagination to see what it must have been like.
The largest of the many artificial reservoirs within the walls of the old city is called Traphang Tra Kuan, and on two islands in the middle of the pond is Wat Sa Sri, which means 'temple of the colored pond'. The temple was probably built in the late fourteenth century. The elegant bell-shaped chedi is thought to contain the ashes of King Li Thai, who reigned between 1347 and 1368 (or maybe 1374).
On a hill overlooking the old city stands one of Sukhothai's most beautiful Buddha images, the Phra Attharot Buddha of Wat Saphan Hin. The temple's name translates to "stone bridge", which comes from the slate stone pathway that makes the climb to the top of the hill only slightly easier. The path is about 300 meters long. There is a stone platform with a small square stupa on it about two-thirds of the way up.
Wat Si Chum Wat Si Chum, located north of the old city walls not far from Wat Phra Phai Luang, might well be the most enigmatic of Sukhothai's temples. The "temple of the bodhi tree" was built in the late 13th century, and while it doesn't seem to get that many visitors, it must be one of the most photographed.
The narrow slit allowing a peek at the Buddha image.
Wat Si Phichit Kirati Kalayaram This temple, whose name means "temple of the glorious, honorable and beautiful building" (and isn't that a mouthful) now sits in rice fields southeast of the old city. It was built in 1403 by a consort of King Li Thai and his mother. The temple now sits well off the road, but its spire can be easily seen across the fields.
The bell-shaped chedi sits on a high square tiered base.
Wat Si Sawai Near the southern wall of the old city is Wat Si Sawai, the most Khmer-styled temple remaining at Sukhothai, and the only one that appears to have originally been build for the worship of the Hindu gods. The temple dates from the era of Khmer rule, and was probably built in the late 12th or early 13th centuries.
The rather small central sanctuary is dominated by three massive prangs, representing the Hindu trinity.
Wat Sorasak North of the east-west highway that now runs through the old city is Wat Sorasak. The temple was probably built early in the fifteenth century, and is notable for the elephants that line the base of the chedi. This is a motif that is repeated often around Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai temples, and shows the influence of Sri Lankan religeous architecture.
Wat Traphang Ngoen More or less due west of Wat Mahathat is Wat Traphang Ngoen, which means 'temple of the silver pond.' The "silver pond" is the large reservoir that separates Wat Mahathat from Wat Traphang Ngoen.
Wat Traphang Ngoen was built some time in the 14th century and the remains consists of a main stupa, with a slender elegant lotus-bud spire, a main prayer hall, and an ordination hall, which sits on an island in the middle of the silver pond.
Wat Traphang Thong Just a short way inside the east gate of old Sukhothai is Wat Traphang Thong, the "temple of the golden pond." It is the only one of the ancient temples within the old city walls that is still in active use. It was originally built around the fourteenth century. The main remaining structure is a large bell-shaped chedi.
Another artifact in the temple grounds is a Buddha footprint that dates from 1359.
