Lamphun and the Lost City of Wiang Kum Kam

A kingdom older than Chiang Mai, a golden chedi in a sleepy town, a road lined with towering yang trees, and the excavated ruins of a capital swallowed by floods.

Area

Lamphun & Lampang

Start from

Chiang Mai

Distance

about 26 km south

Time needed

1 day

Best season

All year; the cool season is most pleasant, and longans ripen around July and August

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

Car, scooter, hired songthaew or local bus

Tickets & rules

Small fees at some temples and for the carts at Wiang Kum Kam; temple dress code

Why go

South of Chiang Mai lies Lamphun, a small, unhurried provincial town that most visitors skip, which is a shame. It was the capital of the kingdom of Hariphunchai centuries before King Mangrai founded Chiang Mai, and its temples are among the most venerated in the north. The town still has a moat on two sides, a riverside market and streets where life moves at the speed of a bicycle.

At its centre, Wat Phra That Hariphunchai raises a tall golden chedi above a courtyard of elegant halls, gilded nagas and one of the largest bronze gongs in the country. On the edge of town, Wat Chamadevi has a stepped brick chedi with rows of standing Buddha images in niches, one of the rare surviving monuments of Hariphunchai art, its stucco softened by the centuries.

On the way, on the southern edge of Chiang Mai, Wiang Kum Kam reveals the brick foundations of more than twenty temples from the city Mangrai built before Chiang Mai, buried for centuries beneath river silt. Horse carts and small trams take you between the ruins, which lie scattered among village houses, gardens and longan orchards.

The story

According to the chronicles, Hariphunchai was founded in the seventh or eighth century, and its first ruler was Queen Chamadevi, a princess invited from the Mon kingdom of Lavo, today's Lopburi. She is said to have arrived by boat up the Ping River with monks, artisans and scholars, bringing Buddhism and Mon culture to the north. Statues and shrines to her appear all over Lamphun, and she remains a local heroine.

The kingdom flourished for some five hundred years, until King Mangrai took it in the late thirteenth century, reportedly by sending a spy to sow discord at court. Mangrai then built a new capital at Wiang Kum Kam on the Ping, but the river flooded it again and again, and within a few years he moved to higher ground, founding Chiang Mai in 1296. Wiang Kum Kam remained inhabited for a while, then vanished under the silt. Its ruins were rediscovered in 1984, when a temple's old brickwork was found during digging.

The old road between Chiang Mai and Lamphun is shaded by giant yang na trees, planted around a century ago, some now over thirty metres tall. Their trunks are wrapped in orange cloth, ordained by monks so that they cannot be cut down, an inventive form of conservation. Lamphun itself is the heart of Thailand's longan country, and in season the roadsides are piled with baskets of the sweet fruit.

Getting there

Blue songthaews and local buses run between Chiang Mai and Lamphun throughout the day, taking around forty minutes; Grab and hired drivers are easy too. By car or scooter, take the old Chiang Mai to Lamphun road to drive beneath the yang trees rather than the faster highway.

Wiang Kum Kam lies off the road south of the city centre, roughly 5 km from the old city. Carts and small trams leave from the information centre and stop at the main ruins.

A suggested plan

1. 8:30Wiang Kum Kam by horse cart, while the morning is still cool.
2. 10:30Drive south along the yang tree road towards Lamphun.
3. 11:30Wat Phra That Hariphunchai: the golden chedi, the great gong and the museum nearby.
4. 13:00Lunch in Lamphun; try khanom jeen or a bowl of noodles by the market.
5. 14:30Wat Chamadevi and its ancient stepped chedi.
6. 16:00Return to Chiang Mai, stopping at a roadside stall for longans in season.

Where to stay

Most people visit as a day trip from Chiang Mai, but Lamphun has a few simple hotels if you want a quiet night in a provincial town and the temples to yourself at dawn.

Good to know

• The Hariphunchai National Museum, opposite the main temple, gives useful context; check opening days.
• Visit Wiang Kum Kam in the morning before the heat builds.
• Carry small notes for cart fares and donations.
• Lamphun is an easy stop on the way to or from Lampang.