Buriram Province

Introducing Buriram Province

Touch down in the little provincial capital of Buriram, at the heart of one of Thailand’s larger provinces, and you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Despite hanging on to half of its historic moat, the city is a hard sell as a tourist destination. The best advice is to make a beeline into the countryside, where you will find a landscape chock-a-block with tradition and peppered with ruins (143 of them). Most sit in the southern half of the province, which is poised to secede from Buriram; some government offices have already put up Nang Rong Province signs.

The crowning glory is Phanom Rung, a beautifully restored Khmer temple complex straddling the summit of an extinct volcano. The most spectacular Angkor monument in Thailand, Phanom Rung is worth the journey and should impress even those suffering acute temple overload.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009