In Your IL Magazine This Month--On the Trail of the Khmer Ruins in Thailand

In the early morning calm, red sandstone walls loom above as dark clouds gather overhead. Ancient Banyan trees cast a shadow over the ruins as if to protect some secret past. Four gate towers rise up to the heavens representing the four cardinal points of the compass: north, south, east, and west. A dense stone archway leads to a set of narrow steps. Two fierce, stone lions, baring huge fangs stand guard over a seven-headed serpent. In order to fulfill my pilgrimage and communicate with the Gods I would have to make my way across the Naga Bridge and into the nether world.

While the great Khmer ruin of Angkor Wat in Cambodia is one of the major tourist sites in the area, few visitors realize that Angkor is but one of the many dozens of Khmer sites scattered throughout Southeast Asia.

Fortunately, Thailand has always valued her historic treasures, and has long understood their full potential as tourist attractions. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) promotes this "Khmer Culture Route" in lower Isaan, offering the visitor an unparalleled opportunity to explore the glories of the Khmer past. I wanted to concentrate on the lesser-known Khmer ruins of Thailand, or Siam as Thailand was once called. The maps revealed that the Khmer Empire was like a cartwheel, with Angkor Wat in the center, like a hub, with roads radiating in all directions and reaching out to the far-flung outposts.

My plan was to first stop at Phimai, the largest of the ruins, and then strike out in search of the countless smaller ones. These ruins are much like beads on a necklace across Thailand's lower Northeast territory, which the Thais call Isaan. Although I found references to many ruins in the archives in the library of the Siam Society, not all of them are marked on the map. It takes a lot of research and you might not always be successful. It was late afternoon when I reached Phimai--perhaps the most prominent of these ancient ruins, and certainly the best known in Thailand. Phimai was the main religious and administrative center for the Khmer northwest. The complex dates originally from the reign of King Surayavarman II, during the first part of the 12th century. Angkor Wat in Cambodia had served as the hub for the vast Khmer Empire from the 10th to the 14th centuries AD.

In order to fully appreciate the awesome beauty of these ruins, you must understand something about these vanquished people. They were, indeed, great craftsman and artisans, and they had a love for beauty. Moreover, and equally impressive was their sophisticated water engineering and high technological complexity in the field of astronomy.

So, what happened to the Khmers?

[Ed. note: Fear not, dear reader, you can find out, and get the full lowdown on the rest of Robert's adventure, in the July issue of International Living, out now. If you're not yet a subscriber, you can get instant access here.]

Robert Davis
For International Living