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Lop Buri
Kingdom
Over the past 1,500
years Lop Buri has enjoyed the status of
being an important political and
administrative center. Prehistoric
settlements were here at Ban Tha Khae
and Ban Khok Charoen and from 7th – 11th
C the Mon people called the Kingdom
Lavoh. The Khmer conquered the region to
incorporate it in to the Khmer Empire
and it was called Lavapura. For 300 year
it was an important military garrison
for the Khmers, a cultural centre for
art and religion.
In the 14th C the king of U Thong,
Ramathibodi, installed his son as
governor, fortified the city with walls
and moats to be a strategic centre in
the wars with Sukhothai. In 1388 it
became a vassal of the Kingdom of
Ayuthaya. In the 17th C Lop Buri became
the second capital for the Ayuthayan
Kingdom and a political center for
visits by the Kingdom of France, jesuits
and others such as Constantine Phaulkon
who sought to convert Siam to
Catholicism through influence over the
Monarchy of Siam.
In the 19th C Rama 3 restored it to this
concept of an alternative and second
Capital to Bangkok. Today the ruins of
these former fortifications and palaces
are available to be seen, as are the
ancient Khmer Temples.
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