About 100 kilometers south of Chiang Mai, Lampang is an ancient city founded in the seventh century, supposedly by the son of Lamphun's founder, Queen Chama Devi. In the nineteenth century the city was fortified with walls, and later became an important center of the teak industry. The city and its monuments has escaped much of the modernizations that have left many of the north's temples with little of their original decorations.
Like all of the former northern kingdom of Lanna, Lampang was occupied by the Burmese for nearly 200 years. Much of this influence can still be seen in the temples of the city.
Lampang Sights
Since most visitors come on a day trip, the standard sights are usually limited to Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, Wat Phra Kaeo and Wat Chedi Sao. Some tours also take in Ban Sao Nak, a large wooden mansion close by Wat Phra Kaeo.
Getting There
Lampang can be reached on your own by regular bus from Chiang Mai or by train from either Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Most tourists see Lampang on a day trip from Chiang Mai.
Accommodation
There are a small number tourist and budget class hotels in Lampang, although few of them are available online. Use the search box on this page to see the best rates from dozens of sites for Lampang hotels.
One of the pony carriages that can take you around Lampang
Getting Around
Although Lampang has the usual array of tuk-tuks and samlors for transportation, the city also sports one unique method: the city's trademark pony carriages. While the conventional transport will get you where you want to go for 5 or 10 Baht, the carriages can be more expensive. They're usually used by tourists and so charge an hourly rate of around 120 Baht for a tour.
Lampang is well known for its ceramics. There are reportedly more than 50 factories scattered around the province. There are a few places around town to buy ceramic ware, but perhaps the best and biggest is the huge market at Thung Wian, on the road to Chiang Mai.
A short distance from Lampang, set amid farms and rice fields, is Wat Chedi Sao. The name literally means "the Temple of Twenty Chedis" and one look at the 20 pagodas in the temple courtyard makes it easy to understand the origin of the name.
The origin of the temple itself is less clear. A legend recounted at the temple says that two monks from India came to the area about 2,000 years ago to spread the teachings of Buddha.
Perhaps the most important temple in the city of Lampang is Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao, the temple of the Emerald Buddha. The temple was home for 32 years in the fifteenth century to Thailand's national symbol, the Emerald Buddha, now housed in its own temple inside Bangkok's Grand Palace.
The golden Chedi and a Burmese styled chapel of Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao The temple, and in fact the city of Lampang itself, is said to have been founded by the son of Lamphun's founder, Queen Chama Devi, in the seventh century.
About 20 kilometers from Lampang is the old temple of Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. On first glance, this walled citadel sited on a man-made mound of earth has a very fortress-like look to it. That's because the temple was built on the site of an eighth century fortification, called a wiang, that guarded the routes to Lampang.
One of the massive entry gates to the fortress-like temple< The temple buildings seen today were built in the fifteenth century, and one of the reasons for the temple's popularity is the relatively pure state of all the temple buildings.
