Things to Know about Lampang Thailand

 

 

My Preferences

Due to my research, I was finally able to narrow down the region in Thailand I would like to have. I decided on the Northern region of Thailand, mostly for the amount of mountains. I also managed to find a city that I thought would make for a great home.

It was close to Chiang Mai, but not as big. It was surrounded by mountains, but not the ocean. And, it had an airport to make for easy travel. The city name was Lampang.

Now, I understand this isn’t really “mapless,” it’s more planned out since I requested a specific city, but nothing is guaranteed in the world of teacher placement. I knew I didn’t really want to be in a beachy town as I lived on an island for two years. I also knew that I really wanted to be surrounded by mountains and land. But, needless to say, I wanted to make sure my experience in Thailand was one that I felt good about. That meant I wanted to have a little say in my choice so I requested the city of Lampang.

Lampang, Thailand

Lampang, Thailand, known as Nakhon Lampang, is located in northern Thailand in Lampang Province. It is approximately 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Chiang Mai and is the third largest city in the north.

Lampang is home to a night market called Kad Kong Ta, commonly referred to in English as Walking Street. It’s located on Thanon Talad Gao, Old Market Street and runs every Saturday and Sunday evening from 5-10ish. It is quite an enjoyable evening activity, where you can find local oddities, traditional clothing, toy shops, food carts, household goods, and loads of other things.

Lampang is known throughout Thailand and is quite famous for Horse-Drawn Carriages. Tourists and locals travel here to tour the city in this traditional mode of transportation. I wake up most mornings to the clip-clopping sound of horses passing.

Lampang is also known as “The City of Roosters”, ironic considering I moved here from an island overtaken with roosters. The legend goes:

Buddha came to visit Lampang. A god, which in Buddhism means guardian deity, worried the people would not wake to show their respect to Buddha. He took it upon himself and transformed into a white rooster to wake the people of Lampang.

Throughout the city, province, and many temples, you can find a variety of roosters symbolizing the faithful God of Buddha who transformed into the rooster. The rooster is also widely painted on many of the ceramic items found throughout Lampang and Thailand.

Ceramic City

Ceramics is one of the major industries here. The province has a large deposit of kaolin, a clay mineral used in ceramics. In fact, there are hundreds of ceramic factories throughout the province. Nakhon Lampang is home to the Dhanabadee Ceramics Museum, where you can learn all about the origin, history, techniques both old and new used in ceramic making. Apparently you can even create your very own, one of a kind ceramic item.

I just happen to live right near a huge ceramics market. I have purchased several pieces for my room, for a very reasonable price. Two bowls, two plates, one coffee mug, one decorative dish, and one vase all for less than 200 baht. That is the equivalent of about 8 USD.

Historically, Lampang was a major city during the Lanna kingdom era (Burmese rule). However, its significance is usually overshadowed by its larger counterparts of the north, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

That doesn’t take away from the amount of amazing historical places to go visit. Burmese-style temples are some of those places. They are in small numbers throughout Thailand and in fact, only 31 remain. Of those, nine are located here in Lampang.

Mae Moh: Lampang’s Neighbor

The province of Lampang is home to the largest coal-fired power plant in all of Southeast Asia. The plant is located in the Mae Moh district, about 20 kilometers from the city of Lampang. Mae Moh is home to a large lignite mine, which is the rock used to run the plant). Limestone is another rock mined throughout the Lampang Province

Mae Moh is quite a beautiful little town. Between the property of the mining museum and the fields of wild sunflowers that bloom in November-Early December, a must see.

National Parks

The province of Lampang is also home to several National Parks. Within these national parks, you can find things like waterfalls, hot springs, hiking trails, caves, tall peaks, railroad tracks and tunnels, and camping grounds. Basically, endless amount of Mother Nature’s beauty.

One of the most famous National Park in Lampang is called Chaeson National park.