Marvel Overland Holiday

Phitsanulok

Highlights

• Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park
• Wat Chulamani
• Phra Buddha Chinnarat
• Chat Trakan Waterfal

An ancient centre of Thai culture and politics set along the Nan River, Phitsanulok (or P’Lok for short) today is a busy, dynamic city and one of the larger of Thailand’s provincial capitals. While most travellers see it only through the window of a bus or train, those who hop off will find enough to do and eat for a solid break from the tourist trail.

Often cited as one of Thailand’s oldest (if not the oldest) continuously occupied city, the area was first settled by Khmer people as early as the 10th century. In the mid 1300s, the capital of the Sukhothai kingdom was moved here, and the Ayutthaya kingdom temporarily made Phitsanulok its capital around a century later. As late as 1775, the city was a strategic defensive outpost during several military attacks from Burma.

One of the most revered kings of Thai history, Naresuan, was born in Phitsanulok in 1555. His much-romanticised story of being captured by the Burmese as a boy and later returning to Ayutthaya to defeat his former captors in battle is now the subject of a series of Thai film epics. You can visit his birthplace at Wang Chan Palace and view murals depicting key scenes from his life at Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, which also houses an exquisite 700-year-old Buddha image.