Sukhothai Historical Park
Sukhothai Historical Park covers the ruins of Sukhothai, which literally means "Dawn of Happiness", capital of the Sukhothai kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries, in what is now the north-central of Thailand. It is located near the modern city of Sukhothai, capital of the province with the same name.
Sukhothai was founded in 1238 by King Inthrathit. Sukhotahi grew prosperously and stretched far and wide in the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng the third king. He created for the first time the Thai alphabet in 1283 A.D. He also introduced Theravada Buddhism.
The last king of Sukhothai kingdom was King Mahathammaracha Li Thai. He composed a religious writing known as Trai Phum Phra Ruang. He has divided the party into two monks party “Khamwasri and Aranwasri“
Sukhotahi began to decline in 1438, as Ayutthaya’s power was on the rise. The city walls form a rectangle about 2 km east-west by 1.6 km north-south. There are 193 ruins on 70 square kilometers of land. There is a gate in the centre of each wall. Inside are the remains of the royal palace and twenty-six temples, the largest being Wat Mahathat. The park is maintained by the Fine Arts Department of Thailand with help from UNESCO, which has declared it a World Heritage Site on 12 December 1991