Lamphun, just south of Chiang Mai, is one of the oldest towns in Thailand. As Hariphunchai it was a Mon kingdom founded, according to tradition, by Queen Chamadevi more than a thousand years ago, and its temples hold some of the most important stupas of the north. Today it is a calm provincial town, famous for longan orchards and hand-woven silk, and an easy half-day trip from Chiang Mai.<\/p>\n
From Chiang Mai, blue songthaew and buses run to Lamphun, a 30-minute ride along a road shaded by old yang trees. Lamphun station is on the Bangkok\u2013Chiang Mai railway. The old town is compact enough to walk.<\/p>\n
The spiritual heart of Lamphun: a golden stupa said to enshrine a relic of the Buddha, surrounded by fine Lanna buildings and the old Suwan Chedi. It is one of the most revered temples of northern Thailand.<\/p>\n
Home to two rare stepped brick chedis from the Hariphunchai period, decorated with standing Buddha images in niches.<\/p>\n
Opposite the main temple, the museum explains the Hariphunchai kingdom with sculptures, inscriptions and Lanna art.<\/p>\n
A memorial to the legendary founding queen, in a park in town.<\/p>\n
Pa Sang district is known for hand-woven silk and cotton, including the traditional Lamphun brocade; shops sell directly from weavers.<\/p>\n
A mountain park crossed by the railway through Thailand’s longest railway tunnel, with hiking trails and cool-season camping.<\/p>\n
A hillside temple linked to a revered northern monk, with a Buddha footprint and quiet forest surroundings.<\/p>\n
Remains of the old city moat and walls still shape the town; a pleasant walk in the evening.<\/p>\n
Morning at Wat Phra That Hariphunchai and the National Museum, lunch in the old town, afternoon at Wat Chamathewi and a weaving shop in Pa Sang, then return to Chiang Mai or continue south.<\/p>\n
The Lamphun Longan Festival<\/strong> is usually held in August, with fruit fairs and parades. Around Visakha Bucha in May, the Phra That Hariphunchai bathing ceremony<\/strong> draws pilgrims. Songkran<\/strong> in April is celebrated in Lanna style with merit-making and water play; nearby Chiang Mai hosts one of Thailand’s biggest Songkran festivals, see our Songkran in Chiang Mai guide<\/a>. Dates change; check with TAT and read our Songkran etiquette and survival guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n King Taksin’s campaigns passed through this province: the Chiang Mai campaign<\/a>. The full story with maps is on our King Taksin trail site (in Thai).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yes, it is only 30 minutes away and has some of the oldest temples in the north.<\/p>\n Usually in August.<\/p>\n The legendary first ruler of the Hariphunchai kingdom.<\/p>\n Northern dishes and longan. See our Lamphun food guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cover photo: Wat Phra That Hariphunchai (II).jpg<\/a> \u00b7 This Photo was taken by Supanut Arunoprayote.<\/p>\n Feel free to use any of my images, but please mention me as the author and may send me a message. (\u0e2a\u0e32\u0e21\u0e32\u0e23\u0e16\u0e43\u0e0a\u0e49\u0e20\u0e32\u0e1e\u0e44\u0e14\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e34\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e30 \u0e41\u0e15\u0e48\u0e01\u0e23\u0e38\u0e13\u0e32\u0e43\u0e2a\u0e48\u0e40\u0e04\u0e23\u0e14\u0e34\u0e15\u0e1c\u0e39\u0e49\u0e16\u0e48\u0e32\u0e22\u0e41\u0e25\u0e30\u0e2d\u0e32\u0e08\u0e2a\u0e48\u0e07\u0e02\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e04\u0e27\u0e32\u0e21\u0e1a\u0e2d\u0e01\u0e01\u0e25\u0e48\u0e32\u0e27\u0e14\u0e49\u0e27\u0e22) <\/p>\n Please do not upload an updated image here without consultation with the Author. The author would like to make corrections only at his own source. This ensures that the changes are preserved.Please if you think that any changes should be required, please inform the author.Otherwise you can upload a new image with a new name. Please use one of the templates derivative or extract. \u00b7 CC BY 4.0<\/a> \u00b7 Wikimedia Commons<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lamphun guide: Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, Wat Chamathewi, Hariphunchai museum, Pa Sang weaving, Doi Khun Tan and the August longan festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"province":[246],"class_list":["post-5796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attractions-en","province-lamphun-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5831,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5796\/revisions\/5831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5796"},{"taxonomy":"province","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/province?post=5796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On King Taksin’s trail<\/h3>\n
Travel tips<\/h2>\n
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FAQ<\/h2>\n
Is Lamphun worth a trip from Chiang Mai?<\/h3>\n
When is the longan festival?<\/h3>\n
Who was Queen Chamadevi?<\/h3>\n
What should I eat?<\/h3>\n
More from songkran.com<\/h2>\n
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