Si Thep Becomes Thailand’s First Cultural World Heritage Site in Thirty Years

UNESCO inscribed the Ancient Town of Si Thep and its Associated Dvaravati Monuments on the World Heritage list on 19 September 2023. It was the first cultural site in Thailand to be listed since Ban Chiang in 1992, and the country’s fourth cultural site.

The Dvaravati culture

Si Thep lies in Phetchabun province, in the valley of the Pa Sak river, on what was once a trade route between the central plain and the north-east. It was occupied from about the sixth century. It belonged to the culture that historians call Dvaravati, a network of Buddhist towns that covered central Thailand before the Khmer and Thai kingdoms. Little of Dvaravati survives above ground elsewhere, which is why Si Thep is important. The town was abandoned around the fourteenth century and was identified again only in 1904.

What there is to see

The town covers 4.7 square kilometres and is enclosed by an earth rampart and a moat, in two parts, one round and one roughly rectangular. Within the walls stands Khao Khlang Nai, the base of a Buddhist monument of the sixth or seventh century, which keeps a frieze of stucco dwarfs and animals that appear to hold up the structure. Near it are two brick towers in the Khmer manner, Prang Si Thep and Prang Song Phi Nong, built in the eleventh or twelfth century when the town had come under the influence of Angkor.

Two kilometres to the north, outside the moat, is Khao Khlang Nok. It is a stepped laterite platform some 64 metres square, the largest Dvaravati monument known, and was cleared of earth and trees only in 2008. The listing also includes a cave with rock-cut Buddhist figures on a hill to the west. The best sculpture from the site, including figures of Vishnu and the sun god Surya, is in the National Museum in Bangkok.

For travellers

Si Thep is about 240 kilometres north of Bangkok, a drive of three and a half to four hours. There is no convenient train. The historical park is flat and shaded, with a small information centre and trams, and takes about half a day. Visitor numbers rose sharply after the listing and weekends are busy. The site is quiet on weekdays and at its best in the cool season, from November to February.

It can be combined with Lopburi and Ayutthaya on the way, or with the old capital of Sukhothai further north. Thailand added a living tradition to UNESCO’s other list three months later, when Songkran was inscribed.