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Sukhothai is first of all historically famous as the first capital city of Thailand, now about 750 years ago, and of course culturally famous for the finding of the stone inscription of the Thai language. Now-a-days Sukhothai consists of two parts, the Old City and the New City, within a distance of about 15km of each other. Most visitors only come to see the ‘ Historical Park ’ of Sukhothai, as the Old City and ruins are named. Some visitors stay over a few nights; others just pass by with their touring bus and pop in for 1 hour. Of course it depends on your interest in historical sites, but there is more to see than just some old stone’s. The first time that I went to Sukhothai is about 7 years ago. I arrived by bus from Phitsanulok (about 1 hour) where I arrived early in the morning by train from Bangkok (but there are also direct busses from Bangkok or Chiang Mai). I stayed at the “ Lotus Village ” Guesthouse on the banks of the river Yom. It’s still managed by the same Frenchman Michele and his Thai wife. I took the bus from the new city to the old city and rented a bicycle (plenty of bicycles for rent just outside the entrance) to wander around in the park, but if you are lazy, you can also take an electric tram tour, or if you have a car you can go inside with your own car. Being there the first time it was impressive, but as I did not know much about the history I did not realize how impressive. In the years to come I would come back again and again to learn more about the rich history of Sukhothai and the other interesting things to see and do around Sukhothai.

The new city of Sukhothai

Over the years to come I did return many times, and the number of guesthouses built rose every year. Now-a-days there are plenty of guesthouses and hotels to choose from. In the new city there are guesthouses like “Ban Thai” (managed by Ronny), “Garden House” (with a small bungalows in a garden), “River House” (managed by Jack and Nan), “Friends” (little bit luxury and a good restaurant), “J&J” (managed by Jack & Jum), “No.4”, “Ban Mai Thai”, “Ruen Thai”, “MG” and “Travelers House” (But it seems to be closed?). “Sabai Sabai” Guesthouse is “temporarily” closed, but just outside the new city, on the way to the old city, in the middle of the rice fields is a new small guesthouse called “Sabai Dee”. And, near the old city, also in the middle of the rice fields, they are building 3 very beautiful resorts in beautiful gardens.
Of course in the New City there is the little bit older hotel “River View” and on the way to the Old City there are two big luxury hotels with swimming pools and all other luxuries. Of course one could just visit the Old City, look at the ruins and try to imagine what it must have been like once, but there is also another way to experience the more colorful ways of Thai life from now and in the past.
Ronny the manger of “Ban Thai” Guesthouse is a favorite bicycler and his tours began with his own relaxing tours in the afternoon. Soon he discovered that actually some of his guests were interested in joining him on a bicycle tour ride. As a result of this he now is making a 45-km round trip bicycle tour through the scenic farming land, rice fields and mountains of Sukhothai. Near the mountain there is a stop at a remarkable cave temple (Wat Thum Mae Ya) and finally the trip goes through the southern part of the Old City. It’s a beautiful cycling trip through a nice piece of rural Thailand, and if you are really into the history of then it would also be worth visiting Si Satchanalai Historical Park, about 45-min from Sukhothai. The Yom river valley and areas at the slopes of Khao Phra Si and Khao Suwan Khiri were favorable places for settlement and traces of pre-historic settlements were found in and around Si Satchanalai. It’s less visited than Sukhothai, but in my personal opinion, for that reason, more beautiful.
In the other direction, south of Sukhothai, can be found Khampheng Phet Historical Park, which is about 1 hour from Sukhothai. On the way to Khampheng Phet, about 14-km on route 101, there is Ban Thung Luang, famous for its pottery. It is said that much of the old pottery were originally made in this village. Now-a-days of course there are many shops were you can buy all kind of pottery, very beautiful, and very inexpensive also. Some of them even show you the art of making potteries.

The surroundings of Sukhothai

Just outside the new city of Sukhothai is the Wat Thawet, about 7km north of Sukhothai on route 1195, where once lived a monk who wanted to express the life of Lord Buddha by making life-size sceneries of the life of Lord Buddha. It’s a strange collection of statues and other constructions, like a statuary Buddhist “Heaven and Hell”. He did not live to finish this job, and seeing his death coming, he made himself a grave/tomb there in which he is “buried”. His son tried to finish the place with the help of donations and the help of another weird monk from (who is still living in Sukhothai, but not as monk). Well, it does not look like it will ever be finished, just like many other things in Thailand, but it’s worth a visit.
As you hopefully know Thailand is a rice farming country, some of the finest rice comes from Thailand, and once the rice has been taken from the paddy fields it has to be made ready for consumption, just like cereal. So everywhere in Thailand you will find rice-mill factories, just like 10km outside Sukhothai on the way to Phitsanulok. Most of them are owned by Thai-Chinese and now-a-days they look like a real modern factory. But not this one at Sukhothai, this one is still being used now employing an almost 100-years old wooden mechanic system driven by a real, still working, old steam-machine. Here you can see (please give a small tip) how the rice is processed before it is ready for sale in the super-market. You will see the dust, people carrying heavy bags of rice, and the women selecting the good from the bad rice.

Do you have enough of history and culture and just want to experience the beautiful nature of Thailand? The last time I stayed in Sukhothai I stayed at the “River View” Guesthouse, for the past 5 months now managed by Jack and Nan. Jack is a real sportsman and mountain climber. Behind the Old City there are some beautiful mountains with waterfalls. There are all kind of trekking trips and tours to make here, from a one-day up & down, up to a 2 or 3 days trekking and camping. Ask Jack, he knows it all and he will be glad to help you.

Chang Noi