Lopburi

Lopburi (ลพบุรี), also Lop Buri or Lob Buri is a historic city 3 hours north of Bangkok in the Chao Phraya Basin region of Thailand. Lopburi has a mountain called Khao Chan Daeng.

Understand
Lopburi is very laid back, and its convenient location less than 3 hours (~180 km) from Bangkok makes it a good place to escape the stress and pollution of the capital.

History
Lopburi, formerly known as Lavapuri or Lavo is one of the oldest cities in Thailand. Thus the remains of almost all periods of Thai history can be found. According to the "Chronicle of the North", it was founded in 468 AD by colonists from India, who named the place after Lava, a son of Rama and Sita in the Indian Ramayana epic. Around the 7th and 8th centuries, it was one of the main centres of the Buddhist Dvaravati network. After the 10th century, the city belonged to the sphere of influence of Angkor. There is some debate whether it was a mere province of the Khmer Empire, or a semi-autonomous polity ruled by a Viceroy.

In the 13th century, it came under Thai influence. Lopburi was one of the roots from which Ayutthaya emerged in 1350. Lopburi remained the second capital of the Siamese kingdom. Typically, a younger brother or the eldest son of the king resided in Lopburi, ruling as a "second king" and heir presumptive. The city's importance waned when Phitsanulok became the "second capital" in the 15th century.

In the 17th century, however, King Narai moved his favourite residence from Ayutthaya to Lopburi, spending eight months a year here. A French traveller of that time wrote that Lopburi was "for the kingdom of Siam what Versailles is for France". Narai was open to Western influences, inviting French missionaries and making the Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon one of his leading ministers. Lopburi was abandoned after the overthrow of King Narai by anti-Western forces in 1688. Parts of the ancient city were restored in 1856 by King Mongkut (Rama IV) who made Lopburi his summer residence in 1864.

Orientation
There are two central areas in Lopburi: New Town and Old Town. Most of the important sites, plus the train station, are in the Old Town; buses arrive and depart from the New Town.

Monkeys
Lopburi is famous for the hundreds of crab-eating macaques that overrun the Old Town, especially in the area around Phra Prang Sam Yot and Phra Kaan Shrine, and there's even a monkey temple/amusement park where you can buy snacks to feed to them.

Keep an eye out for monkeys hanging from trees and wires and sitting on roofs and ledges, and be aware that they have some unpleasant bad habits including defecating on unsuspecting pedestrians from their overhead perches, jumping on people to snatch food and stealing bags that they suspect may contain something edible.

Dogs
At night nothing much is going on in the Old Town, thus the street dogs consider everybody running around after midnight very suspicious. While most of them will just look at you, some might bark, run behind you and jump at you. While common at night, it is very rare during the day.

By bus
From Ayutthaya, local buses run every 20 mins, take around 2 hours and cost 35 baht.

There is a minibus service from Mo Chit to Lopburi.

From Kanchanaburi it's necessary to take a local bus to Suphanburi taking 2 hours and costing 50 baht, then another from there to Lopburi taking 3 hours and costing 52 baht.

From Sukhothai take a bus to Phitsanulok and then to Nakhon Sawan first.

By minibus
From Bangkok, air conditioned minivans leave from the main Mo Chit (northern) bus station, take about 2 hours and cost 110 baht. There are several van services in the area, so if the timing for one service does not work, try another. The last minivan departs around 18:00.

By train


Trains from/to Bangkok's main Hualamphong station take about 3 hours. Take the Northern Line from Hua Lamphong Railway Station everyday, many rounds per day.

Trains from/to Ayutthaya take about one hour and cost 20 baht for third class. For a second class ticket (air conditioned carriage) of an express train the price is 260 baht.

By car

 * From Bangkok, take Hwy 1 (Phahonyothin Rd) passing Phra Phutthabat District, Saraburi, onto Lopburi. The total distance is 153 km.
 * From Bangkok, take Hwy 32 which separates from Hwy 1, passing Ayutthaya. There are three routes as follows:
 * Enter Bang Pahan District, passing Nakhon Luang District into Rte 3196. Then, pass Ban Phraek District onto Lopburi.
 * Enter at the Ang Thong Interchange to Tha Ruea District and turn left onto Rte 3196, passing Ban Phraek District onto Lopburi.
 * Pass Ang Thong, Singburi, and take Rte 311 (Singburi–Lopburi), passing Tha Wung District onto Lopburi.

Get around
The blue local bus (8 baht) circles constantly between the bus station about 2 km from the town centre, passing Phra Kahn Shrine, going south on Sorasak Rd, and ending up in front of the TAT office on Phraya Kamuad Rd.

Buy
If you are going to be in Lopburi long-term, you will need the services of the two department stores. There is a Big C mall in town, with a KFC, along with a Tesco Lotus in the Monkey Mall further down. The latter has a very large outdoor market in the evenings.

Eat
The street vendors in the Old Town are very nice and have all kinds of tasty things. In the evenings, a lot of street food stalls are set up on a road in front of railway station.



Drink
You might find the nightlife in Lopburi fairly quiet for a town of its size but there are a selection of places to catch a drink in the evening. Old Town has a few curbside bars, which are excellent for those who are still new to Thailand, as there are usually some foreigners about. There is also a small club (look for the large "Ben More" sign) next to a local park near the train station in the Old Town, but it is a little pricier than average.

The centre of town has a variety of places, from hole in the wall local dives, to "The Bank", a disco that is frequented by Lopburi's young crowd, but is not recommended for foreigners unless you know your way around well. Uptown has few drinking establishments on the main road, but there are a variety of karaoke bars and such down the back roads. Some of these out-of-the-way places are OK for a drink and some offer short-term female company but this not recommended for the newcomers.



Old Town
Hotels in the Old Town offer generally similar medium scale standards for 140-500 baht. The monkeys run around freely, but usually stay in just one small area. Depending on your preference you can choose a place with lots of monkeys running (and hanging) around, or opt for somewhere with low or no monkey presence.

Go next

 * Sing Buri, 30 km northwest
 * Ang Thong, 40 km southwest
 * Saraburi, 50 km southeast
 * Ayutthaya, 60 km south