Northeastern · Thailand
Buriram · บุรีรัมย์
Phanom Rung Khmer sanctuary, Chang Arena football, silk weaving.
- Region
- Northeastern
- Population
- 1,580,000
- Area
- 10,322 km²
- Stories filed
- 0
About Buriram
History
Buriram — "City of Happiness" — sits at the heart of what were once the Khmer empire's western provinces, and its volcanic terrain bears more Khmer ruins per square kilometre than any other part of Thailand. The empire's greatest legacy here is Phanom Rung, a Shaivite sanctuary built on the rim of an extinct volcano between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, aligned so that the rising sun shines through all fifteen of its doorways on four mornings a year — a feat of astronomical precision that draws thousands to each alignment event. The principal Nandi lintel from Phanom Rung was removed by looters in the 1960s, sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, and returned to Thailand in 1988 after a decade of public and diplomatic pressure.
Landscape & geography
The landscape is volcanic rice country — a wide plateau punctuated by extinct cones and lava fields that give the soil its characteristic dark red and black colours. Phanom Rung, Khao Kradong, and Phanom Sawai each rise from the plain as forested volcanic hills, their summits crowned by Khmer or post-Khmer shrines. The Dan River drains the plateau east toward the Mun River, its floodplains wide and seasonally marshy. Buriram is among the driest provinces in the northeast — the volcanic soil drains fast and the rains arrive late, leaving a long, stark dry season of red earth and bare fields.
Why visit
Phanom Rung Historical Park is among the finest Khmer archaeological sites outside Cambodia: arrive before dawn on one of the four alignment mornings — mid-April is the most accessible — and watch the entire axis of the sanctuary light up as the sun rises. Prasat Muang Tam, in the valley below, is a water-bounded Khmer sanctuary that is smaller, quieter, and almost as beautiful. Buriram United's Thunder Castle stadium brings top-flight Thai football to a province that has become the country's football capital, and the Chang International Circuit hosts motorcycle and car racing most months. The province is manageable in a long weekend from Bangkok.
Stories from Buriram
Articles, reviews, and itineraries tagged to this province.