Northern · Thailand
Lamphun · ลำพูน
Oldest Lanna city, Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, longan orchards.
- Region
- Northern
- Population
- 403,000
- Area
- 4,506 km²
- Stories filed
- 1
About Lamphun
History
Lamphun is the oldest continuously inhabited town in northern Thailand, founded as the Mon kingdom of Haripunchai in the seventh or eighth century and independent until absorbed by Mangrai's Lanna in 1281. Queen Chamadevi — said to have arrived from Lop Buri by raft — left a temple tradition that predates the Thai period by five hundred years. Wat Phra That Haripunchai, whose gilded chedi is visible from the surrounding road, enshrines a relic of the Buddha and remains one of northern Thailand's most important pilgrimages. The town's moat, temple compounds, and Mon-script inscriptions make it an unusually intact pre-Lanna urban landscape.
Landscape & geography
A compact, wooded river valley immediately south of Chiang Mai, ringed by low hills that shelter it from the north wind. Longan and lychee orchards blanket the Kuang river flood plain — the province leads Thailand in longan production and the fruit defines its identity as thoroughly as silk does in the northeast. The old town retains its moat and several Haripunchai-era temple compounds within easy walking distance of each other, an unusually intact Mon-period streetscape for a living market town rather than a designated heritage zone.
Why visit
Half an hour south of Chiang Mai, Lamphun makes an ideal half-day or full-day trip. Wat Phra That Haripunchai's compound — gilded chedi, old-stone viharns, and a small but excellent museum of Mon-Buddhist sculpture — deserves at least two hours. The August longan festival brings the province its annual national moment; the boat races on the Kuang river are a quieter and less-touristed alternative to Chiang Mai's festivals. A riverside walking street operates on weekends, and a lunch of northern khao soi at the old-quarter market rounds out a comfortable day from the city.
Stories from Lamphun
Articles, reviews, and itineraries tagged to this province.
