Si Sa Ket Province

Si Sa Ket  Province

General Information
Si Sa Ket is a quiet province on the Cambodia border with Khmer ruins scattered throughout the province.Most notable are the two ruined sanctuaries of Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai and Noi,dating back to the 10 th century.
However, the most famous Khmer site is actually in Cambodia. Khao Phra Wihan was built over 10 centuries ago and is one of the most spectacular Angkor-period sites. Built as a Hindu temple, it begins in Thailand and rises to 600 metres with the main sanctuary in Cambodia.
After a long period of war, its wonderful craftsmanship,stairways and courts are now being restored. Thi walk to the summit is long and steep, but visitors are sure to be impressed by the size and complexity of its design.
Si Sa Ket has an area of 8,840 square kilometres, comprising the following districts: Muang Si Sa Ket, Kanthararom, Kantharalak, Khun Han, Phrai Bung, Khukhan, Prang Ku, Uthumphon Phisai, Rasi Salai, Yang Chum Noi, Huai Thap Than, Non Khun, Si Rattana, Wang Hin, Bueng Bun, Nam Kliang, Phu Sing, Benchalak, Muang Chan, Pho Si Suwan and Sila Lat.
How To Get There
Car
From Bangkok, take Highway No. 1 to Saraburi and Highway No. 2 to Nakhon Ratchasima, then use Highway No.226 to Si Sa Ket via Buri Ram and Surin, a total distance of 571 kilometres.
Bus
Buses depart from Bangkok's Mochit 2 Bus Terminal to Si Sa Ket every day. Contact Transport Co.Ltd at Tel: 0 2936 2852-66 or visit www.transport.co.th for more information
Rail
Regular trains depart from Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Railway Station to Si Sa Ket every day. Call 1690, 0 2223 7010-20 for more information.
Air
Visitors can fly from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani and continue the trip by bus to Si Sa Ket. Call Thai Airways at Tel: 1566, 0 2628 2000.

Festivals
Pha Mo I Daeng Half and Quarter Marathon
This sport event is held on the third Sunday of August between Phumisaron village and Pha Mo I Daeng in Amphoe Kantharalak. Runners like this uphill marathon because it goes through a misty area in the rainy season.
Si Phao Thai Si Sa Ket Festival
This festival is held every March 15-17 at Somdet Phra Si Nakharin Park when the Lamduan flowers in the park are in full bloom. Shows include cultural performances by 4 tribes, which are Khmer, Suai, Lao, and Yo. There are shops selling handicrafts and a light-and-sound show about the city's construction.


Local Products
Handicraft
Si Sa Kets famous souvenirs include silk and cotton fabrics from Bung Bun and Uthumphon Phisai, exquisite bamboo handicrafts like basketry at Ratchakan Rot Fai Road, and food items like salted egg and high-quality honey-pickled garlic that can be found everywhere.
Handicraft
Surin has many interesting products, such as silk, hand-woven cotton clothes, rattan basketry and silverware.

Attractions

Prasat Ban Prasat
This is 39 kilometres from Si Sa Ket town and 7 kilometres on a road on the right. This Khmer structure was renovated after it was finished. The site comprises 3 square pagodas with a pointed top and all on the same laterite base. All were built in the 16th Buddhist century.

Khao Phra Wihan National Park
This park covers an area along the Thai-Cambodian border. Tourist attractions in the park include viewpoints on a cliff and a Khmer bas-relief. The park is at the end of Highway No. 221, 36 kilometres south of the district office and 98 kilometres from Si Sa Ket town.

Pha Mo I Daeng, a major attraction of the park, is a wide rock plateau on a high cliff on the Thai-Cambodian border. This is a good spot to view the Phanom Dong Rak range and Khao Preah Vihear sanctuary 1 kilometre away in Cambodia. A chapel here houses the Nak Prok Buddha image and the oldest Khmer-style bas-relief in Thailand from the 15th Buddhist century.

Namtok Phu La-O
This is a medium-sized waterfall at its loveliest in the rainy season. It is on the Ban Phumisaron-Ban Samrong Kiat road. A 2.5-kilometre road on the left then leads to the waterfall. One can find interesting flora along the way which makes for fine nature study.
Prang Chong Don Tuan
This is on a steep cliff in the Phanom Dong Rak mountain range near the Thai-Cambodian border, 8 kilometres from Ban Phumisaron or 38 kilometres from the district office. This small Khmer site has a square pagoda built of brick, a doorway of stone and a lion guarding the entrance.

Prasat Khao Phra Wihan
Prasat Khao Phra Wihan or the Preah Vihear Sanctuary is a grand historical site and the centre of a Khmer community on the highlands of Cambodia. The site was built during the 16th-17th Buddhist century and is more than 600 metres above level ground. Though physically in Cambodia, the sanctuary is easier to reach from the Thai side. From Pha Mo I Daeng, there is a 2-kilometre footpath with historical sites lined all the way to the mountaintop. The sanctuary offers a spectacular view of the Cambodian lowlands.

Namtok Huai Chan
This is 24 kilometres from the district office on the Kanthrom-Ban Samrong Kiat road. The fall drops down several rock levels and has water the year round.
Namtok Samrong Kiat
Located 20 kilometres from the district office, this medium-sized waterfall originates from a stream in the Banthat mountain range. Above the fall is a rock plateau. It is at its most beautiful in the rainy season.
Prasat Tamnak Sai
Prasat Tamnak Sai is 19 kilometres from the district office on the way to Samrong Kiat waterfall. This site is a single square pagoda made of brick while the lintel and the doorway are made of sandstone. A Narai Banthom Sin lintel was discovered here. Two stone Singha (lions) guard the entrance.

Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaeo
Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaeo or Wat Lan Khuat is about 70 kilometres from Amphoe Muang. The temple is wonderfully decorated with numerous colored bottles.

City Pillar Shrine
The city pillar shrine is near the provincial hall. This square structure is decorated with marble and stained glass.
Si Sa Ket Zoo
This zoo is in Rama IX Chaloem Phra Kiat Forest Park in Non Nong Kwang, 4 kilometres from the provincial hall. It is a good place to relax and to see wild animals in the zoo.
Somdet Phra Si Nakharin Park
This is a large public park inside an agricultural college 2 kilometres from the provincial hall. At the park one can see flowering shrubs called Lamduan that are the official plants of the province. Lamduan is a Thai flower that is at its most enchanting when it blooms from March to April as its sweet fragrance covers the whole area.

Wat Phra That Rueang Rong
This temple is 8 kilometres away on the Si Sa Ket-Yang Chum Noi road. The site has a traditional design. The area is used for religious ceremonies and as a museum to display the life of Isan tribes such as Lao, Khmer, Suai, and Yoe.

Prasat Ban Samo
Prasat Ban Samo is 10 kilometres southeast of Prang Ku. A laterite wall surrounds this small Khmer site. The square pagoda has a lintel above a fake doorway facing the south. An ancient pool lies beyond the wall.

Prasat Prang Ku
Prasat Prang Ku is 10 kilometres from the district office. Prang Ku is a small Khmer site built of large laterite slabs. It is over a thousand years old. The front part has a large pool that is the habitat of waterfowls in the dry season.

Prasat Ta Leng
Prasat Ta Leng is at Ban Prasat, Tambon Kanthrarom, 20 kilometres from the district office. A square pagoda adorns the site. The front doorway still has clear, beautiful designs. The sanctuary was built around the 16th-17th Buddhist century.

Prasat Wat Sa Kamphaeng Noi
This khmer sanctuary is at Ban Klang, 14 kilometres from the district office on the road to Si Sa Ket. The site consists of a pagoda, a building made of laterite and a pool. Built in the 16th Buddhist century as a religious place, it received extensions in the 18th Buddhist century to also become a community medical centre.

Prasat Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai
This is at Ban Kamphaeng, 22 kilometres from Amphoe Muang and 2 kilometres before Uthumphon Phisai district office. This large Khmer sanctuary has 3 pagodas on the same base. The main pagoda is the middle one built of sandstone and bricks. Its beautiful shape is still intact. Lintels, Buddha images, fired clay Buddha image prints, and bronze artwork have been found here. This sanctuary was built in the 16th Buddhist century as an offering to the god Shiva. It was later transformed into a Buddhist temple in the Mahayana sect in the 18th Buddhist century.

Continue reading here: Samut Songkhram Province

Was this article helpful?

0 0