Nan Hotels Resorts and Travel Guide

Sights

Wat Phra That Chae Hang (วัดพระธาตุแช่แห้ง) (18°45.50'N, 100°47.50'E) It features a 55 metre-high golden Chedi containing a Holy Relic from Sukhothai. Over the Viharn's door frames and on parts of the roofs are plaster designs in the shape of Naga, the great serpent, which represent the artistic best in local architecture.

The building of the Nan National Museum (พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติน่าน) It displays exhibitions concerning the town's history and major structures, evolution of arts in different ages, and numerous ancient objects, the most eminent of which is the Black Ivory.

Wat Phaya Wat (วัดพญาวัด) (18°46.22'N, 100°45.75'E) An ancient religious site, it has rectangular Chedi bases on which Buddha states are placed around the Chedi structure. Combined artistic influences of Lanna, Lan Chang and native Nan can be detected.

Opposite the Nan National Museum is Wat Chang Kham Woravihan (วัดช้างค้ำวรวิหาร) (18°46.59'N, 100°46.32'E) Its main features are the sculpted upper halves of elephants adorning around the Chedi, a Sukhothai influence.

Wat Suan Tan (วัดสวนตาล), built in 1230, features an old, beautifully-shaped Chedi and houses a huge bronze Buddha statue, Phra Chao Thong Thip cast by a king of Chiang Mai in 1450.

Pha Chu, or Pha Cheot Chu (ผาเชิดชูหรือผาเชิดชู), is a cliff located within the Si Nan National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติศรีน่าน) which covers extensive forested and mountainous areas. A national flag pole has a lanyard running all the way down to the foot of the hill, the longest in the country.

Hom Chom (ฮ่อมจ๊อม) The site is characterised by a large earthen mould eroded by the elements through the ages, leaving only hard eastern columns, whose exotic shapes and forms can be interpreted as differently as the imagination goes.

The Thai Lu Village-Ban Nong Bua (หมู่บ้านไทยลื้อบ้านหนองบัว) The Thai Lu people living at Ban Nong Bua are noted or producing the traditional tribal fabric, an art handed down from generation to generation.

Wat Nong Bua (วัดหนองบัว) (19°05.34'N, 100°47.11'E) was built by Thai Lu craftsmen who had early migrated from southern China. Apart from the Viharn which is adorned with elaborate carvings, there are also wall murals painted by Thai Lu artists some one hundred years ago.

Wat Phrathat Beng Sakat (วัดพระธาตุเบ็งสกัด) The main Buddha image is in the local style residing on the so-called Chukkachi base. The back of the Buddha image is decorated with a mirror in accordance with the Thai Lue belief.

Ban Pak Nai (บ้านปากนาย) is a fishing village on the bank of the fresh-water lake above the Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit province.

For more information on interesting sites within or near the city of Nan see the Wikipedia article on "Nan, Thailand"