Buriram Province

[Lourens]

I took the family to Prasat Muang Tam, which is just a short distance away from Prasat Panom Rung . The road there is very bad bad and it is a shame that some of this provinces’ few tourist attractions are in such a bad state. Muang Tam is beautifully taken care of with well-kept lawns and clean ablution facilities. An entrance fee is payable – 10 Baht for Thais and 30 Baht for farangs. Not much I know but still something that bugs me. As can be seen from the photos, it is typical of the Hindu temple ruins all in line with the Cambodian Angkor Wat with impressive stone carvings. Quite something to see and well worth the trip if you are ever in the area.

Then we also went saw road signs for an ancient kiln pointing towards Prakhon Chai. I found it on the map and we headed in that direction. Prakhon Chai is about 40 or so kilometers away and we have been there before. Then you have to keep going to Ban Kruat where no sign points to any kilns ancient or modern. We decided to turn back about 10km after Ban Kruat as my handy-dandy road map indicated that we were well passed our destination. Back in town, we found the sign. Turn right. The road there is one of the worst I have ever seen with potholes big enough to hide an elephant. No problem really. We have the vehicle to negotiate these little obstacles. We found the kiln. It’s an oven used to fire pottery and a torn poster indicated that it dates from 10 – 12th century AD. The most disappointing thing about it was that the site itself was so run down. There was nobody there and the place was obviously not taken care of for a very long time. Even a big old hairy spider now lived in the model showing the layout of the place. It’s not vandalized – just sadly neglected.

Read more about these and other exciting destinations in my BLOG