Lopburi, Thailand

🇹🇭 Lopburi is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about 150 km north-east of Bangkok. The town (thesaban mueang) covers the whole tambon Tha Hin and parts of Thale Chup Son of Mueang Lopburi District, a total area of 6.85 km².

History The city has a history dating back to the Dvaravati period more than 1,000 years ago.  According to the Northern Chronicles, Lavo was founded by Phraya Kalavarnadishraj, who came from Takkasila in 648 CE. According to Thai records, Phraya Kakabatr from Takkasila (it is assumed that the city was Tak or Nakhon Chai Si) set the new era, Chula Sakarat in 638 CE, which was the era used by the Siamese and the Burmese until the 19th century. His son, Phraya Kalavarnadishraj founded the city a decade later. Lopburi, or Lavapura as it then was, was under the rule of the rising Angkor regime and became one of the most important centres in the Chao Phraya Basin from then on. Epigraphic evidence indicates that the dominant population of the city was Mon.

The earliest confirmed occurrence of the name Lavapura is on silver coins inscribed "lava" on the obverse and "pura" on the reverse in a Pallava-derived script of the seventh or eighth century; several such coins were recovered in 1966 from a hoard found in an ancient jar in U Thong.

Inscriptions say that Lopburi was incorporated into the administration structure of the Khmer Empire during the reign of Suryavarman I. Control of Lopburi gave the Khmer Empire access to trade going through the Kra Isthmus. There is some evidence the Khmer Empire, under Suryavarman II, fought against the Mons in the 12th century over suzerainty. Lopburi sent embassies to China in 1115 and 1155.

Lopburi (Lavo) is described in Book III of Marco Polo's Travels, where it is called Locach. This came from the Chinese (Cantonese) pronunciation of Lavo, "Lo-huk". The city is referred to as "Lo-ho" in chapter 20 of the History of Yuan (元史: Yuán Shǐ), the official history of the Mongol, or Yuan Dynasty of China. Due to a scribal error in Book III of Marco Polo's travels treating of the route southward from Champa, where the name Java was substituted for Champa as the point of departure, Java Minor was 1,300 miles to the south of Java Major, instead of from Champa, on or near an extension of the Terra Australis. As explained by Sir Henry Yule, the editor of an English edition of Marco Polo's Travels: "Some geographers of the 16th century, following the old editions which carried the travellers south-east of Java to the land of Boeach (or Locac), introduced in their maps a continent in that situation".

After the foundation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 14th century, Lopburi was a stronghold of Ayutthaya's rulers. It became the capital of the kingdom during the reign of King Narai the Great in the mid-17th century and the king resided there about eight months a year.

Archeology • several flaked stone tools were discovered in Ban Mi district  dated back to the Paleolithic Age in 1931. • a number of tools, human burial sites and bronze accessories belong to Iron Age were found in Lop Buri river Basin in 1964. • Bracelets and beads dated back 2700–3500 years were revealed at Ban Khok Charoen in 1966–1970. • Prehistoric human skeletons and clay jugs were found in Ban Tha Kae in 1979. • A Copper source was discovered in Khao Wong Phrachan in 1986–1994.

Geography Lopburi lies on the Lopburi River at an elevation of 20 metres (66 ft) mostly surrounded by alluvial plains, although some hills rise to between 300 metres (980 ft) and 600 metres (2,000 ft) to the north-east.

Transport The main road through Lobpuri is Route 1 (Phahonyothin Road), which starts in Bangkok, and continues through Lopburi, Chai Nat, Nakhon Sawan, Kamphaeng Phet, Tak, Lampang, Chiang Rai, and the border with Burma at Mae Sai. Route 311 leads west to Sing Buri, and Route 3196 leads south-west to Ang Thong.

Lopburi is a station of the State Railway of Thailand's Northern Line, forming the end of Bangkok's suburban service. Train service from Bangkok railway station (Hua Lamphong) in Bangkok usually takes about 2 hours. The third class train costs less than $1 and is a great way to experience the local culture and the "Real Thailand".

Lopburi is served by the Khok Kathiam airport, 9 km (5.6 mi) north of the town.

Monkey population Today, the city is best known for the thousands of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) that live there, especially around the Khmer temple Prang Sam Yot and the Khmer shrine Sarn Phra Karn. It is suspected that urban expansion caused the monkeys to adapt to city life. They are fed by the local people, especially during the annual Monkey Festival, which usually occurs on the last Sunday of November. The monkeys can be aggressive, are not afraid of humans, and often steal whatever items or food they can find from unwary visitors. Most of the hotels and guesthouses in Lopburi are "monkey-proofed" using screen wire or sealed windows.

In the city, signs are posted, reading: To prevent monkeys attacking people, the officer will feed monkeys in 3 designated areas outside San Phrakan twice a day, at 10am and 4pm. Those who want to feed monkeys other than these times, please contact the officer or caretaker

During the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of tourists prompted hungry monkeys to harass local residents. To address the problem, the government implemented a mass roundup and sterilization program in 2024. Within five months, 1,600 of the estimated 3,000 monkeys had been captured for neutering.

Provincial government The province is subdivided into 11 districts (amphoe). The districts are further subdivided into 122 sub-districts (tambon) and 1,126 villages (muban): 1 Mueang Lopburi; 2 Phatthana Nikhom; 3 Khok Samrong; 4 Chai Badan; 5 Tha Wung; 6 Ban Mi; 7 Tha Luang;

8 Sa Bot; 9 Khok Charoen; 10 Lam Sonthi; 11 Nong Muang.