Lampang Travel Guides and Tours

Situated in the valley of the Wang River and built directly on a main tributary of the Chao Phraya river, Lampang, also called Nakhon Lampang to differentiate it from Lampang Province, is the third largest town in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Lampang Province and is bordered by the Khuntan Range to the west and the Pi-Pan-Num range on the east. Traditional names for Lampang include Wiang Lakon and Khelang Nakhon.
Compared to nearby provinces, Lampang has a relatively dry climate with a winter of dry, sunny days and temperatures above 10 degrees celcius spanning from November to March. In recent times, the blue winter sky is often marred by the practice of burning the fields after the harvest, as well as the smog generated by Mae Mo coal-fired power plants. Summer typically starts in March and lasts until June. Temperature reach 40 degrees Celsius in the hottest month, April and there are frequent afternoon thunderstorms and hailstorms. Rainy season runs from June until November. Lampang receives less precipitation than neighboring provinces and rarely suffers from extensive flooding.
Lampang is also known in Thai as "Horse Carriage City" and is considered by many to be the last paradise in the country. Located about 100 km to the southeast of Chiang Mai and well-connected by rail and 4-lane highways to both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Lampang remains a city still filled with horse-drawn carriages in regular use for transportation. For this reason, the horse-drawn carriage remains a major symbol of Lampang. The carriages likely were introduced through colonial Burma—Lampang was an important center of timber industry in the early 20th century and saw an influx of migrants from British-controlled Burma - but other accounts attributes the horse-drawn carriage to the Portuguese, via Macau,
As a result of the migrants, many temples in the city are of teh Burmese style and were endowed by the logging tycoons of the late-19th century. Wat Sri Bunrueang and Wat Pa Fang are among the extant examples. Traditional Lanna architecture is also featured at Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, famous for its 19th century murals and situated at the site of the ancient Lampang city. Lampang's city seal features a white rooster in the temple's gate. Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao, on the West Bank of the Wang River, is said to have housed the Emerald Buddha between 1436 and 1468. Wat Phra That Chedi Sao (The Temple of Twenty Chedis) is famous for its array of twenty pagodas. Other temples of some renown include Wat Prathat Jom Ping and Wat Lai Hin both in the Koh Ka district.