Sawankhalok
Sawankhalok ( Thai : สวรรคโลก ) is the most important city and the administrative seat of the district ( Amphoe ) Sawankhalok of Sukhothai Province in the lower northern region of Thailand .
geography
The city is about halfway between the provincial capital Sukhothai and the county seat Si Satchanalai .
history
Today's Sawankhalok was founded less than 200 years ago in the Rattanakosin Period. The name, however, goes back to the Ayutthaya period , but was then carried by the city that is now called Si Satchanalai . After their capture and destruction by the Burmese army, the population settled in what is now Sawankhalok, the name migrated with them.
The famous Sawankhalok or Sangkhalok pottery , which in earlier centuries was exported far beyond what is now Thailand, did not even come from today's Sawankhalok. Rather, the kilns were in the Si Satchanalai area.
traffic
railroad
The Northern Railway of the Thai State Railway from Bangkok to Chiang Mai passes about 30 kilometers east of Sawankhalok. From their station at Ban Dara Junction , a railway line leads to Sawankhalok. There is a daily connection to and from Bangkok.
The station building in Sawankhalok was designed and built between 1906 and 1912 by the German architect Karl Döhring .
Airport
The nearest airport is Sukhothai Airport ( IATA airport code : THS), located about nine kilometers south of the city.
Street
The Route 101 (Kamphaeng Phet - Nan) takes about two kilometers east over the city.
Attractions
- Lively night market with lots of food stalls selling northern Thai food.
- Sawanworanayok National Museum - very nice collection of Buddha statues from the various stylistic periods and with examples of Sangkhalok ceramics .
- Directly opposite the museum is Wat Sawankhalam, which is also worth seeing
- Shrine and statue of King Sri Indraditya
Web links
- Japanese craftsman spurs interest in Thai pottery , June 21, 1999 Asian Economic News article on Sangkhalok pottery (accessed October 17, 2008)
- Illustrated section on "Sangkhalok Ware" in the book Things Thai by Tanistha Dansilp and Michael Freeman (link on Google Books, in English)
Coordinates: 17 ° 19 ′ N , 99 ° 50 ′ E