Driving from Pattaya to Buriram - what to see along the way?

[rocket2]

Anyone highlights along the way to Buriram and susaket? Any smaller Angkor temples not to far off the main road?  Driving with the family in November ultimately rolling into sisaket (the Paris of Isarn). 
 

always amazed at some of the old Angkor ruins strewn around the border provinces.

[carlyai]

Check on road upgrades/repairs and try another route.

It seems to be all roads dig up and repair at the moment.

Just drove back now from Pattaya to Kuchinari and the monthly Pattaya road dig up has spread.

[Njoku]

Yes there is a heritage listed temple along the way near Buriram, dont know what its called, worth seeing, just use "explore" or "attractions" on google maps when your around mid point there, it will come up.

[Roo Island]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wze4uAyZNd8UoUPQ8

[Roo Island]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MzLjQ2iD35iAp48p7

[IvorBiggun2]

Phanom Rung Historical Park

Google is your friend.

[dick turpin]

13 hours ago, rocket2 said:

Anyone highlights along the way to Buriram and susaket? Any smaller Angkor temples not to far off the main road?  Driving with the family in November ultimately rolling into sisaket (the Paris of Isarn). 
 

always amazed at some of the old Angkor ruins strewn around the border provinces.

 

Isaan!

[hotandsticky]

You have Phanom Rung and Prasat Hin Muang Tam.

 

 

Google both.

 

Phanom Rung is about 12 km south of the 24 road Nang Rong and Prakhonchai. I suggest sat nav if you are taking the direct route of 331, 359, 33, 3395, 348 etc via Wattana Nakhon, Lahansai...

 

 

The tidiest route is No 7 road and take the Chachoengsao  turn just after the big rest area. After driving for about 20km you take the right lane to turn towards Kabin Buri. This road eventually merges with the 331and you then take a left exit to Sa Keaw on the 359..

 

 

Edited August 21 by hotandsticky

[Skeptic7]

Plenty of dreadful driving. 

[jacko45k]

Khao Yai National Park?

[outsidetrader]

The biggest border market at Arrayapratet .Lalu is well worth a look .

and of course the kymer temples are plentiful.

Nice Lake at Nong Din Daeng .

Food ,Italian Restaurant Sale Away on the 359 ( closed Monday and,Tuesday)

Wattana,and Lahansai are KFCs etc inside the PTTs.

Ime doing this trip on Sunday as it happens ;)

[Kerryd]

There are dozens of old Khmer era temples, shrines and monuments in Sa Kaeo and Buriram provinces. Not so much in Chon Buri/Rayong/Chanthaburi/Trat/Prachinburi or Chachoengsao provinces for some reason.

I've been to 9 in Sa Kaeo province though most are (now) just a few stones scattered around or well off the "beaten track".

Prasat Sadok Kok Thom is a small but not too bad temple (though the reconstruction seems kind of amateurish).
It's an 11th century, nearly complete temple complex (thanks to a lot of restoration work in the 1990s).

Most of the other sites wouldn't be worth stopping at though unless you were a die-hard Khmer temple fan.

In Buriram are some very nice sites.
On the way from Sa Kaeo is Prasat Nong Hong. Not far from the highway (1.8 kms) and next to a school. Not a large site (probably less than an hour to see it all from the time you park until you are back in your vehicle).

The "Big 2" are Prasat Muang Tam and Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung (or just "Phanom Rung).

Prasat Muang Tam is on the flatlands not far (8kms or 5 miles) from Phanom Rung - which sits on top of a large hill (or wee small mountain if you prefer).

Muang Tam is very nicely preserved/restored and fairly large. It's in my "Top 5" Khmer-era sites in Thailand.
(Give yourself at least an hour for this site.)

Phanom Rung is (arguably) the #1 ancient Khmer temple in Thailand. (Phimai in Korat may disagree.) For me, it's definitely Top 3. (Phanom Rung, Phimai, Muang Tam for the Top 3, plus Kamphaeng Phet and Prasat Mueang Sing in Kanchanaburi for the Top 5).

Warning - Phanom Rung is a large site. If you park in the "East" (main) parking lot, you have to walk up to the start of the processional path and then it's 500 meters of (stone) path and a lot of stairs to get to the East entrance ! 
(But it's worth it - if you're into that kind of thing.)

If walking isn't for you - there's another parking area just "West" of the main one (about 700 meters further along the main road) that takes you to a spot where it's a small flight of stairs and you are at the temple.
(At the West entrance, where you can see straight through the temple to the East entrance. It is a popular spot twice a year (3-5 April and 8-10 Sept) as the sunrise shines directly through the temple. Loads of people make the trip and sit/stand at the West entrance to photograph the sun rising through the East entrance.)

I did the Sunrise Ceremony last April. Spent the night at a cheap resort and was up the mountain at first light. The West parking area wasn't opened yet and there were a dozen cars outside waiting.
I went to the main (East) parking area and walked to the "ticket booth" to find out I wasn't allowed to go any further until 05:30 so I sat on the stairs for 15 minutes.

However that meant by the time I got to the West Entrance (after that long walk and all those stairs) there were already 80+ people there.

(Khmer Temples are noted for all having their main entrance facing directly towards the sunrise so people gather at the West entrance to try and photograph the sun rising through the East entrance.)
 
I've been to 7 temple sites in Buriram and have 5 more on my "to do" list but they are small, out of the way places and mostly just overgrown ruins.

This map takes you to Sadok Kok Thom, Prasat Nong Hong, Prasat Muang Tam, Phanom Rung and to the "replica" Phanom Rung they built at the Chang Stadium.
453 kms total.

Takes me (on a motorcycle) 3 hours from Pattaya to the Sadok Kok Thom temple in Sa Kaeo.
It's about 66 kms from Sadok Kok Thom to Prasat Nong Hong.
39 kms from Nong Hong to Prasat Muang Tam.
8 kms from there up the hill to Phanom Rung.
62-68 kms from there to the Chang Stadium.

https://www.google.co.th/maps/dir/PTT+ปตท.จิฟฟี่+ชลบุรี-พัทยากลาง…/RPVP%2BCWJ+SADOK+KOK+THOM+HISTORICAL+PARK,+Khok+Sung,+Khok+Sung+District,+Sa+Kaeo+27120/''/''/Prasat+Hin+Khao+Phanom+Rung+Park/Phanom+Rung+stone+castle+replica/@13.9370205,102.3719134,8.71z/data=!4m40!4m39!1m5!1m1!1s0x3102be1d7342dacd:0x6df1647e3cd9c4a3!2m2!1d100.9044285!2d12.9453967!1m5!1m1!1s0x311b03e818a47959:0xfe04b5cb40e5ccb!2m2!1d102.7372428!2d13.8435815!1m5!1m1!1s0x311bb578703a4a5b:0xdb46ce385cddfc87!2m2!1d102.7605818!2d14.3022973!1m5!1m1!1s0x311a2ff148cd2c25:0x9e24d39cea40ab86!2m2!1d102.9824029!2d14.4961986!1m5!1m1!1s0x311a2eaf58d467c9:0x5e018c585006c382!2m2!1d102.9399423!2d14.5319866!1m5!1m1!1s0x3119951566a74933:0xbd2510f67c89a76b!2m2!1d103.0898051!2d14.9659033!2m1!2b1!3e9?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDgyMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D



The "been to" (circles with white squares) icons are mostly ancient Khmer temple sites I've visited so far in "Isaan" (that small corner of it at least) and a few resorts/hotels I've stayed at along the way.
The "starred" icons are the sites on my "to do one day" list (as well as a few gas stations from previous trip planning).

                          Sadok Kok Thom                                                                       Prasat Nong Hong
           


                            Prasat Muang Tam                                                            Prasat Phanom Rung
       


I've also got a number of sites visited and "to do" in Surin and Si Sa Ket (as well as other places).

I once did what I called a "23 temple tour" - in 3 days.
I started from Pattaya and stopped at a couple small places in Sa Kaeo, then into Buriram and Surin.
Next day was Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen
Day 3 I travelled to Yasothon, Roi Et and back to Surin and then on day 4 it was straight back to Pattaya.

That trip was mainly about visiting Ubon, Amnat and Yasothon as those were the only 3 provinces in "Isaan" I hadn't been to yet.
Many of the "temples" were little more than a few old laterite stones sticking out of the ground. Some were just a single Prang (or Chedi) in the middle of what is now a school yard. (That was a hoot, pulling into a school yard in a remote town in Roi Et on the Harley drew a crowd by itself. Taking off my helmet and listening to everyone when they saw I was a foreigner was good for a laugh.)

    Phrathat Chedi - Hua Ton village, Roi Et

[rocket2]

12 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

There are dozens of old Khmer era temples, shrines and monuments in Sa Kaeo and Buriram provinces. Not so much in Chon Buri/Rayong/Chanthaburi/Trat/Prachinburi or Chachoengsao provinces for some reason.

I've been to 9 in Sa Kaeo province though most are (now) just a few stones scattered around or well off the "beaten track".

Prasat Sadok Kok Thom is a small but not too bad temple (though the reconstruction seems kind of amateurish).
It's an 11th century, nearly complete temple complex (thanks to a lot of restoration work in the 1990s).

Most of the other sites wouldn't be worth stopping at though unless you were a die-hard Khmer temple fan.

In Buriram are some very nice sites.
On the way from Sa Kaeo is Prasat Nong Hong. Not far from the highway (1.8 kms) and next to a school. Not a large site (probably less than an hour to see it all from the time you park until you are back in your vehicle).

The "Big 2" are Prasat Muang Tam and Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung (or just "Phanom Rung).

Prasat Muang Tam is on the flatlands not far (8kms or 5 miles) from Phanom Rung - which sits on top of a large hill (or wee small mountain if you prefer).

Muang Tam is very nicely preserved/restored and fairly large. It's in my "Top 5" Khmer-era sites in Thailand.
(Give yourself at least an hour for this site.)

Phanom Rung is (arguably) the #1 ancient Khmer temple in Thailand. (Phimai in Korat may disagree.) For me, it's definitely Top 3. (Phanom Rung, Phimai, Muang Tam for the Top 3, plus Kamphaeng Phet and Prasat Mueang Sing in Kanchanaburi for the Top 5).

Warning - Phanom Rung is a large site. If you park in the "East" (main) parking lot, you have to walk up to the start of the processional path and then it's 500 meters of (stone) path and a lot of stairs to get to the East entrance ! 
(But it's worth it - if you're into that kind of thing.)

If walking isn't for you - there's another parking area just "West" of the main one (about 700 meters further along the main road) that takes you to a spot where it's a small flight of stairs and you are at the temple.
(At the West entrance, where you can see straight through the temple to the East entrance. It is a popular spot twice a year (3-5 April and 8-10 Sept) as the sunrise shines directly through the temple. Loads of people make the trip and sit/stand at the West entrance to photograph the sun rising through the East entrance.)

I did the Sunrise Ceremony last April. Spent the night at a cheap resort and was up the mountain at first light. The West parking area wasn't opened yet and there were a dozen cars outside waiting.
I went to the main (East) parking area and walked to the "ticket booth" to find out I wasn't allowed to go any further until 05:30 so I sat on the stairs for 15 minutes.

However that meant by the time I got to the West Entrance (after that long walk and all those stairs) there were already 80+ people there.

(Khmer Temples are noted for all having their main entrance facing directly towards the sunrise so people gather at the West entrance to try and photograph the sun rising through the East entrance.)
 
I've been to 7 temple sites in Buriram and have 5 more on my "to do" list but they are small, out of the way places and mostly just overgrown ruins.

This map takes you to Sadok Kok Thom, Prasat Nong Hong, Prasat Muang Tam, Phanom Rung and to the "replica" Phanom Rung they built at the Chang Stadium.
453 kms total.

Takes me (on a motorcycle) 3 hours from Pattaya to the Sadok Kok Thom temple in Sa Kaeo.
It's about 66 kms from Sadok Kok Thom to Prasat Nong Hong.
39 kms from Nong Hong to Prasat Muang Tam.
8 kms from there up the hill to Phanom Rung.
62-68 kms from there to the Chang Stadium.

https://www.google.co.th/maps/dir/PTT+ปตท.จิฟฟี่+ชลบุรี-พัทยากลาง…/RPVP%2BCWJ+SADOK+KOK+THOM+HISTORICAL+PARK,+Khok+Sung,+Khok+Sung+District,+Sa+Kaeo+27120/''/''/Prasat+Hin+Khao+Phanom+Rung+Park/Phanom+Rung+stone+castle+replica/@13.9370205,102.3719134,8.71z/data=!4m40!4m39!1m5!1m1!1s0x3102be1d7342dacd:0x6df1647e3cd9c4a3!2m2!1d100.9044285!2d12.9453967!1m5!1m1!1s0x311b03e818a47959:0xfe04b5cb40e5ccb!2m2!1d102.7372428!2d13.8435815!1m5!1m1!1s0x311bb578703a4a5b:0xdb46ce385cddfc87!2m2!1d102.7605818!2d14.3022973!1m5!1m1!1s0x311a2ff148cd2c25:0x9e24d39cea40ab86!2m2!1d102.9824029!2d14.4961986!1m5!1m1!1s0x311a2eaf58d467c9:0x5e018c585006c382!2m2!1d102.9399423!2d14.5319866!1m5!1m1!1s0x3119951566a74933:0xbd2510f67c89a76b!2m2!1d103.0898051!2d14.9659033!2m1!2b1!3e9?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDgyMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D



The "been to" (circles with white squares) icons are mostly ancient Khmer temple sites I've visited so far in "Isaan" (that small corner of it at least) and a few resorts/hotels I've stayed at along the way.
The "starred" icons are the sites on my "to do one day" list (as well as a few gas stations from previous trip planning).

                          Sadok Kok Thom                                                                       Prasat Nong Hong
           


                            Prasat Muang Tam                                                            Prasat Phanom Rung
       


I've also got a number of sites visited and "to do" in Surin and Si Sa Ket (as well as other places).

I once did what I called a "23 temple tour" - in 3 days.
I started from Pattaya and stopped at a couple small places in Sa Kaeo, then into Buriram and Surin.
Next day was Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen
Day 3 I travelled to Yasothon, Roi Et and back to Surin and then on day 4 it was straight back to Pattaya.

That trip was mainly about visiting Ubon, Amnat and Yasothon as those were the only 3 provinces in "Isaan" I hadn't been to yet.
Many of the "temples" were little more than a few old laterite stones sticking out of the ground. Some were just a single Prang (or Chedi) in the middle of what is now a school yard. (That was a hoot, pulling into a school yard in a remote town in Roi Et on the Harley drew a crowd by itself. Taking off my helmet and listening to everyone when they saw I was a foreigner was good for a laugh.)

    Phrathat Chedi - Hua Ton village, Roi Et

Amazing answer. I do like the C-grade/level temples that you never read about. I have stumbled on a few in sisaket and they are fun to explore.  Seems lots of Angkor remnants all over the place. 
 

also is the sisaket  border open for westerners for day visits to the large border temple (preach vihear) I am getting mixed answers on this.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2575485/thailand-awaits-reopening-of-tourism-access-to-preah-vihear

Edited August 23 by rocket2

[Peterphuket]

On 8/20/2024 at 11:10 PM, rocket2 said:

Anyone highlights along the way to Buriram and susaket? Any smaller Angkor temples not to far off the main road?  Driving with the family in November ultimately rolling into sisaket (the Paris of Isarn). 
 

always amazed at some of the old Angkor ruins strewn around the border provinces.

Use chatgpt.

[proton]

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Khao Yai National Park?

 

Went there on Wednesday coming back from a concert in Maha Salakam. Always wondered what it was like and very surprised at how unimpressive it was, we must have gone to the boring, looks like most other places part. The vendors along the road selling honey combs were more interesting.

[retarius]

I'd look out for some fields and some trees and some electricity poles (usually set at an angle for some reason). 

[Kerryd]

2 hours ago, rocket2 said:

also is the sisaket  border open for westerners for day visits to the large border temple (preach vihear) I am getting mixed answers on this.

I've heard it's open and that it's not open.

I went there once in March 2019. It was a cool, damp morning (light off and on drizzle).
Got to the park gate and spoke to the old guy in the ticket booth who assured me I would be able to see the temple and the other attractions.

So I paid the 400 baht foreigner price (40 baht for locals) and rode in.

Shocker - I could "see" the temple - from about 500 meters away, across a triple roll razor-wire fence with a soldier standing 5 meters behind me in case I tried to do something stupid.

I had to walk past a small military camp (about platoon sized) to get to where you could see the temple on the rise across a small depression. There were numerous holes in the ground from mortar rounds when the Thais and Cambodians were shooting at each other in 2011.

Around the far edge of the camp you could see the stairway leading up to the temple and that's when someone yelled something to someone and a young soldier started following me around. It's not like I was going to try and breach the triple razor wire fence (I know how nasty that stuff is - makes barbed wire seem tame by comparison) but maybe they were worried "something" might happen.

I also picked out a number of machine gun bunkers around the area and - lol - all the "trash receptacles" along the roadway were made of concrete on three sides with slits so you could drop garbage into the can - or so the can could be removed and a soldier could use it as a "pillbox" to shoot anything coming from the Cambodian side.

If I recall - I went to look at the "Twin Stupas" and was stopped by yet another triple roll razor-wire fence which was very annoying. I could see camouflaged bunkers facing Cambodia around that area as well.

I was able to see the "bas relief" - sort of. It's a group of "Buddhas" carved into the side of a cliff. It's a wonder how they got there or why they chose that spot. You go down a couple long stairways bolted to the cliff and end up at a locked gate. There are small holes people have cut into the linked fencing so they could get their hands/cameras through to take photos.
(The gates also keep thieves - and id-io-ts from trying to climb out onto the cliff face and then falling about 300 feet into the trees below.)
      




A bit of a disappointment overall. 10 times the entrance fee for locals. 2 of the 3 "main attractions" were off limits and in total I took a whopping - - 14 photos.
 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23 by Kerryd

[harryviking]

Been driving around in Thailand on motorcycle for some years now and I cannot actually say I know how nice or not nice it is along the way! Why? Take your eyes of the way you drive and you might not survive the trip! Thats why!!🤣🤣

[Celsius]

Pattaya to buriram for the temples 🤣

[Kerryd]

There are a couple other temple sites along the Thai/Cambodian border like that as well. Like Prasat Ta Muan Thom. (The south side of that temple has the largest laterite stones I've ever seen. They must have used elephants to get those into place.)

You park outside the military guardpost, get your ticket (I forget how much - not as bad as at Phrae Vihear) and walk down the lane towards the temple.
I noticed half a dozen soldiers sitting along the side of the temple and someone said something (to the other soldiers) and one of them got up and started trailing me. Far enough behind to not be in the way, but close enough to make sure I didn't "go the wrong way" or take photos of something I shouldn't - like the camouflaged bunkers dotting the area on the south side of the temple (facing Cambodia).

(Funny enough - or not - Google Maps shows also shows that temple as being on the Cambodian side of the border.)

And there was a small dirt path on the South side that went through some trees about 50 meters and then opened up onto - a Cambodian military post.
Which I suspect was the main reason that one soldier had been dispatched to keep an eye on me. So I didn't accidentally wonder into Cambodia and create an incident of some kind.

That is actually a nice temple to visit as there are basically three temples along the road within a couple kms of each other. (I think the first one technically was originally what they called a "hospital".)

                    The first building                                                         The soldiers sitting around the (third) temple
         

You can see a soldier looking towards the path
that leads to Cambodia.                                                                                Those laterite blocks are HUGE !
         


Note - the (current) Thai-Cambodian border was surveyed by the French when they still controlled much of the area. Generally, borders will follow major natural features (rivers, shorelines, mountain ranges) and in many cases are based on the "watershed". 
Which way the water flows from a certain point. Basically, if the streams/creeks/rivers flow from a peak (or range of mountains) down one way, that side of the mountains belongs to (those guys). Meanwhile, as the water on the other side of the peak flows the other way, that side belongs to (the other guys).

(Years ago a friend of mine had a running - or flowing - joke. His trapline ran up one river and mine ran up the other.
We stood on the side of the road above the "forks" where the two rivers met and took a piss.
If the water flowed towards "his" river, then that was a part of his line. But if it flowed towards "my" river then it was "my" line.)

Much of the Thai-Cambodian border followed the edge of the mountains with the "mountain" side belonging to Thailand and the "valley" or "lowlands" side belonging to Cambodia.

Which is why there are (or were) so many Khmer temples along the (current) border. Because they were built on the edge of the "highlands" overlooking those "lowlands".

But for some unknown reason, the French cartographer that did the mapping, through oversight or laziness, drew the border with Phrae Vihear being on the Cambodian side despite it being on a ridgeline overlooking the lowlands like so many other temples.

And both sides (Cambodia and Thailand) accepted his map when it was first completed in 1907, with no disputes about the territory - or the exclusion of the Vihear temple from the Thai side of the border.

It wasn't until the 1930s when Thailand did it's own map of the border that the error was discovered. Since then it's been a flip-flop issue with Thailand controlling it then having to hand it back to Cambodia then occupying it again and having to give it up again.

But the International Court of Justice decided for Cambodia, claiming Thailand had "waited too long" to notice or try to correct the error (which means the court knew the border was drawn in error).
Thailand has lost it's case at the ICJ every time as they are biased towards helping "poor" Cambodia.

And to this day it is a still a sore spot in Thai-Cambodian relations and a potential trouble spot in the future.

Sheesh, during WW2 Thailand "owned" much of Northern Cambodia down past Angkor Wat (Siem Reap)

 

[biervoormij]

2 hours ago, rocket2 said:

Amazing answer. I do like the C-grade/level temples that you never read about. I have stumbled on a few in sisaket and they are fun to explore.  Seems lots of Angkor remnants all over the place. 
 

also is the sisaket  border open for westerners for day visits to the large border temple (preach vihear) I am getting mixed answers on this.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2575485/thailand-awaits-reopening-of-tourism-access-to-preah-vihear

 

If you are going to visit Prasat Muang Tam and Phanom Rung Historical Park the follow 3 sites could easily be added.

 

Prasat Ban Bu

Kuti Rishi Ban Nong Bua Rai

Kuti Rishi Ban Khok Muang

 

I am sure you will be the only person at each of these small ruins.

 

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 8/20/2024 at 11:10 PM, rocket2 said:

Driving from Pattaya to Buriram - what to see along the way? 

The girlfriend is arriving today from Buriram.

Very independent girl, has her own transport.

I'll find out when she arrives what scenic things she saw on the way down to Pattaya.
It took her a while, I'm sure she saw some great things. 

 

 

Edited August 23 by SAFETY FIRST