Discover Phitsanulok, Thailand, with Timothy Tye (23 December, 2002)
Phitsanulok พิษณุโลก is a city in Thailand with a long history. It is located in the lower northern Thailand, near to Sukhothai, and serves as the provincial capital of Phitsanulok Province. The city covers an area of 18.26 sq km, and has a population of around 84,000 people.
The city of Phitsanulok is one of the oldest cities in Thailand, having been founded in the 10th century, when it was known as Song Khwae, or "two rivers", for it was at the confluence of the Nan and Khwae Noi Rivers. It is the birthplace of King Naresuan, who liberated Siam from Burmese occupation. His brother and successor King Ekathosarot was also born in Phitsanulok.
Phitsanulok is home to one of the most revered Buddha statues in Thailand, the Phra Buddha Chinnarat, which is housed in Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat. The city has other places of interest which I will list out.
Map of Phitsanulok
Places of Interest in Phitsanulok
Ja Thawee Folk Museum A small museum housing a collection of rural folk crafts. (GPS: 16.806, 100.26746)
Sum Ruan Kaeo Buddha Foundry A small workshop where Buddha statues are made. (GPS: 16.86749, 100.31074)
Wat Chulamanee (GPS: 16.82112, 100.26585) Khmer style temple built by King Borommatrailokanat in 1464, located 5 km south of Phitsanulok.
Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat The most important temple in Phitsanulok, with the most revered Buddha statue. (GPS: 16.82382, 100.26204)
Wat Nang Phaya (GPS: 16.82258, 100.26195)
How to reach Phitsanulok
You can fly to Phitsanulok from Bangkok. You can also take the train that runs between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, as it stops in Phitsanulok. Similarly, there are buses to Phitsanulok from Bangkok and Chiang Mai. A bus trip from Bangkok takes about 6 hours for the 390 km journey. From Chiang Mai it takes roughly the same duration.
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About this website
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.