rjh

Since they've been in the news lately with Thailand and Cambodia mobilizing troops and so on, I thought I'd start a thread on the Khymer temples on or subjectively pretty near the Thai-Cambodia-Lao borders.

These include:
--Wat Phu in Lao
--Preah Vihear in Cambodia
--Ta Muen minor complex in Thailand and Cambodia
--Phnom Rung in Thailand
--Phi Mai in Thailand.

rjh

Here's a map of a day trip to three temples on the border near Nang Rong. It's easy to organize this from Nang Rong.

If this trip, or trips to the other temples, is interesting to anyone (besides me), let me know and I can provide additional details. If not, no problem.

Yaatri

Phnom Rung is not on the border, neither is Phimai, both being well inside Thailand. Both Phimai and Phnom Rung can be done in a day trip from Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) if you hire a car. If you want to do it by public transport, they have to be done as two separate day trips.

dsquared37

And Wat Phu is in Champasak province in Laos. This is also not on the border.

There are other temples in and around Phi Mai and Phanom Rung.

rjh

Yeah, some aren't smack on the border. Yes, you're absolutely right. (That's why I said "subjectively pretty near.")

How about this construction? Major or significant temples, some of axial construction (Wat Phu, Preah Vihear, Phnom Rung) not seen at the main Angkor complex, ranging from Wat Phu in the east to Phimai in the west.

If you're trip planning, though, you might care less that some are in the Upper Mun Valley or Lao than that they're easy to string together in a single trip (since they're subjectively near the border).

And, yes, there are other temples, such as the less often visited, but worthwhile Muang Tam near Phnom Rung, which has somewhat unusual square construction with four ponds arranged around the central enclosure.

Michael

He did say I understood rjh's intent in starting this thread to point out that there are historically Khmer temples in and around the Thai-Lao-Cambodian border areas.

dsquared37

Understood, but the title of the thread is 'Cambodia-Thai border temples'. Just felt like pointing out the discrepancy of mentioning Wat Phu within.

rjh

Any thoughts on the geo-coordinates of the Ta Kwai/Ta Krabey temples reported as 13km east of Ta Muen Thom? Google Earth doesn't show this area clearly.

dsquared37

I'm not even sure what this post is about. Any thoughts?

rjh

Uhh, it's about travel to the temples. Organizing it, doing it, is it worth doing, that sort of thing.

I'm a little surprised at the comment, but maybe this is a widely held view. If so, I guess the best approach would be to ignore the thread and it will die the usual FT thread death when the topic is lame. Sorry for wasting your time.

dsquared37

I love the temples, don't get me wrong, it's the only reason I've responded. And some of those places you've mentioned I've never heard of, another reason to push the subject.

But look at the first quote. It's asking such an obscure question. Maybe you're knowledge is just out there and far beyond me... I sure would enjoy seeing more of the Khmer temples however. And as spectacular as Angker Wat is, I won't go back until after the next spate of civil unrest in Cambodia. The amount of bus tours is absurd. Without getting into nationalities etc, it's too much to bear.

rjh

I'm not sure that I'd agree that the question about the location of Ta Kwai/Ta Krabey is that obscure to at least some of the readers here. I've had off forum exchanges with several people who've gone to lesser known areas.

In any case, it's a simple day trip to the Ta Muen sites and you don't have to worry about tour buses. I was the only visitor. Preah Vihear was another day trip and there were more vendors than tourists when I visited, reminiscent of Angkor 10 years ago. Wat Phu had about 5 tourists and some locals.

Phimai and Phnom Rung had a lot of Thai visitors, but Muang Tam, 10 minutes from Phnom Rung, was almost deserted. At some point I'll try to put together trip reports.

So, I guess the message is that there are lots of opportunities for visiting uncrowded sites. As for getting informed, a good book is Michael Freeman's Guide to Khmer Temples in Thailand and Laos.

chazas

I just got back from Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. There were absolutely no problems in those areas. In fact it was a good time to be in Siem Reap - during the rainy season there were still a decent number of people around but not the mobs that I understand happen in high season. We had plenty of temples mostly to ourselves.

TJQuill

Just don't go during the high season. I was there two weekends ago and there were no crowds at all. And no rain.

And wishing more troubles on the poor souls of Cambodia after all that they have been through is just plain mean.

rjh

Just to circle back to this. There's apparently a funicular up the cliff to Ta Krabei / Ta Krabey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_ylcd7BLAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAO2lXwSZ80

Also, I marked the approximate location of the temple here.