Sights in Phitsanulok Province
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Buddha Casting Foundry
Across the street from Sergeant Major Thawee Folk Museum and also belonging to Dr Thawee is a small Buddha Casting Foundry where bronze Buddha images of all sizes are cast. Visitors are welcome to watch and there are even detailed photo exhibits demonstrating the lost-wax method of metal casting. Some of the larger images take a year or more to complete. There is a small gift shop at the foundry where you can purchase bronze images of various sizes. Attached to the foundry is Dr Thawee’s latest project, Garden Birds of Thailand (Tel: 05521 2540; child/adult 20/50B; 8.30am-5pm). This collection of aviaries contains indigenous Thai birds including some endangered species,…
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Thung Salaeng Luang National Park
The 1262-sq-km Thung Salaeng Luang National Park is one of Thailand’s largest and most important wildlife sanctuaries. Thung Salaeng Luang encompasses vast meadows, evergreen and dipterocarp forests, limestone hills and numerous streams. From November to December the meadows bloom with carpets of wild flowers, and the best place to see wildlife is on these meadows and around the ponds and salt licks. There are over 190 bird species confirmed in the park, most significant of which for birdwatchers is the Siamese fireback pheasant. Thung Salaeng Luang was also once home to the PLAT.The entrance is at the Km80 marker, where the park headquarters here has information on walks…
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Sergeant Major Thawee Folk Museum
The Sergeant Major Thawee Folk Museum displays a remarkable collection of tools, textiles and photographs from Phitsanulok Province. This fascinating museum is spread throughout five traditional-style Thai buildings with well-groomed gardens, and the displays are all accompanied by informative and legible English descriptions. Those interested in cooking will find much of interest in the display of a traditional Thai kitchen and the various traps used to catch game. Male visitors will be undoubtedly disturbed by a display that describes traditional bull castration –a process that apparently involves no sharp tools. To get here you can take bus 8.
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Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park
This park covers about 307 sq km of rugged mountains and forest, much of it covered by rocks and wildflowers. The elevation at park headquarters is about 1000m, so the area is refreshingly cool even in the hot season. The main attractions don’t tend to stray too far from the main road through the park and include the remains of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) stronghold – a rustic meeting hall, the school of political and military tactics – and the CPT administration building. Across the road from the school is a water wheel designed by exiled engineering students.
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Wat Ratburana
Across the street from Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat, Wat Ratburana draws fewer visitors but in some ways is more interesting than its famous neighbour. In addition to a wí·hăhn with a 700-year-old gold Buddha, an ùbohsòt chapel with beautiful murals thought to date back to the mid-19th century, and two hŏr đrai, the temple is also home to a few quirky attractions that offer a fascinating insight into the practices of Thai Buddhism.
The most obvious of these is a large wooden boat decked with garlands that originally served to transport King Rama V on an official visit to Phitsanulok. Today the boat is thought to grant wishes to those who make an offering and crawl un…
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Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat
The full name of this temple is Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat, but the locals call it Wat Phra Si or Wat Yai. The main wí·hăhn appears small from the outside, but houses the Phra Phuttha Chinnarat, one of Thailand's most revered and copied Buddha images. This famous bronze statue is probably second in importance only to the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew.
The story goes that construction of this wát was commissioned under the reign of King Li Thai in 1357. When it was completed, King Li Thai wanted it to contain three high-quality bronze images, so he sent for well-known sculptors from Si Satchanalai, Chiang Saen and Hariphunchai (Lamphun), as well as five Bra…
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Pha Chu Thong
A 1km trail leads to Pha Chu Thong (Flag Raising Cliff, sometimes called Red Flag Cliff), where the communists would raise the red flag to announce a military victory. Also in this area is an air-raid shelter, a lookout and the remains of the main CPT headquarters – the most inaccessible point in the territory before a road was constructed by the Thai government. The buildings in the park are made out of wood and bamboo and have no plumbing or electricity – a testament to how primitive the living conditions were.
There is a small museum at the park headquarters that displays relics from CPT days, although there's not a whole lot of English explanation. At the end of th…
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