Prasat Phanom Rung

J

johnb

Guest
As I have been entertaining friends from Portugal for the last 4 days and the Elephant Festival only occupied 3 of them, I decided to take them to Prasat Phanom Rung, near Prakhonchai.

It took about 1 hour to drive from Surin. We had a good lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking the main car park...4 people, 400 baht....and then set off for the walk up to the top of the hill where the main temple ruins sit.

It was a partly cloudy day and so not too hot. My visitors are 69 and 68 years old and both enjoyed the walk, which took about 30 minutes. Great views of the plains around the hill upon which the temple sits were enjoyed before we descended.

A gentle drive back, stopping in Prakhonchai for the wife to buy a particular form of nam prik only available there, completed a very satisfactory day out. My friends enjoyed all the Elephant Festival events tremendously. This final day allowed them to see the countryside around Surin and a bit of Thai history and culture in a gentle and very enjoyable way.

I have been there 2 or 3 time before over the years but, nonetheless, enjoyed it too.
 
I live about 5km from Phanom Rung and can view it from my balcony. I have visited half a dozen times and regularly drive 'over the mountain' on my motorcy just to take in the scenary.

There is another gate and car park further on from the main entrance that takes out the walk up the steps. As much as I like that walk if I am feeling lazy or have less mobile guests we will take that option.

Did you pay Falang price or get away with showing your Thai driving licence ?

The nam prik you mention is very aroi - the Chinese 5 spice pork dish is another speciality of Prakhonchai.
 
gotlost said:
Fantastic place been there three times. Did you drive up and around to the top?
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By the top, do you mean the top of the normal road or going up past the army sentry/no go point ?
 
CO-CO said:
By the top, do you mean the top of the normal road or going up past the army sentry/no go point ?
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Your choice..:smile:I would think John would only want to take his guest to the temple.
 
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Interesting guys.

I wasn't aware I could avoid the farang pricing by showing a Thai driving license so three of us (farangs) paid 100 baht each and Mrs B 20 baht. Is that a general rule at monuments, parks, museums, Co-co? If so, good to know.

We walked all the way up rather than going to the car park at the top. plucky British folk that we are!
 
johnb said:
Interesting guys.

I wasn't aware I could avoid the farang pricing by showing a Thai driving license so three of us (farangs) paid 100 baht each and Mrs B 20 baht. Is that a general rule at monuments, parks, museums, Co-co? If so, good to know.

We walked all the way up rather than going to the car park at the top. plucky British folk that we are!
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There it works with a Thai DL or yellow house book. Most parks in Thailand do honor this but there are a few that have said to me FCUK OFF WHITE BOY YOU PAY TOURIST PRICE.//flag
 
gotlost said:
There it works with a Thai DL or yellow house book. Most parks in Thailand do honor this but there are a few that have said to me FCUK OFF WHITE BOY YOU PAY TOURIST PRICE.//flag
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I had the same experience as GL at 2 national parks in Krabi. After 2 x 300 Baht I told the third to fcuk off, I had lost interest. Told the missus she could go in for free if she wished and that I could get a massage with a happy ending for that price.

Generally, putting down your Thai DL, smiling, and saying something like "Pom mai chao nak thawwng thiaao" (sounds like nak tong tee-ow at the end - means I am not a tourist) will pay dividends.

I am not trying to be parsimonious but we are NOT tourists. We live here and contribute to the local economy. I do not think we should pay the tourist price.
 
I have got many Thai Price entries to Musesums, National parks etc with my Thai Driving licence along with speaking thai !! ThumbUp6
 
I do not speak Thai but the Thai driving licence pays dividends most places I/we go. On our recent trip to Bangkok we took the girls to Ocean World in Siam Paragon, 5 of us in the party including grandma. At first they wanted to charge me farang price for entry but the little old driving licence reduced my entry fee to same as a Thai.
 
The Thai driver's licence has worked for me at many venues, including Nong Nooch and Khao Kheow Zoo out of Pattaya.
 
When you go to Phanom Rung, you should not miss going to the smaller prasat at Muang Tam, a few kms further along the road. There are fewer visitors, but the site is much more 'atmospheric'. When I've taken people to both, they've always preferred Muang Tam, as I do.
 
I like this place to there are two temples ,you can drive to both of them no need to walk hills .:rolleyes:
We enjoyed the smaller temple it's a little nicer maybe than the larger one if anything.
Once a year on a certain night the moon shines through the temple in one end and out the other many people gather on this eve to look at this wonder .
 
nomad97 said:
I do not speak Thai but the Thai driving licence pays dividends most places I/we go. On our recent trip to Bangkok we took the girls to Ocean World in Siam Paragon, 5 of us in the party including grandma. At first they wanted to charge me farang price for entry but the little old driving licence reduced my entry fee to same as a Thai.
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Tourist price they charge you , if you have a driving license it means your a resident not a tourist - ps your still a farang though :cool:
 
johnb said:
Good photo, Sangka! That is just what we saw yesterday.
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Here's a few more pictures of Phanom Rung I took when we showed it off to a visiting friend. Great place to visit.

mario299
 

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gotlost said:
There it works with a Thai DL or yellow house book. Most parks in Thailand do honor this but there are a few that have said to me FCUK OFF WHITE BOY YOU PAY TOURIST PRICE.//flag
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Sounds like a line you may also receive at the coyote venues too :tongue:
 
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