Three days in Lopburi: the old second capital of Siam, and the monkeys have it now

The old town sits between the railway line and the river, and it is small: the palace wall, the ruined house, the three towered temple and the shrine are within fifteen minutes of each other on foot, with the station at the eastern end of the walk.

What makes it unusual is that none of it has been put behind glass. The prangs stand at junctions with traffic going round them, the palace grounds are a public park with a museum in the middle, and the whole thing is threaded through an ordinary town that has not rearranged itself for visitors.

The train is the pleasant way. From Bangkok it takes about three hours up the northern line. One catch worth knowing before you book: since late 2025 the central Lopburi station handles local and commuter services, and longer distance trains use Lopburi 2 at Tha Wung outside town, so check which one your ticket says.

Minivans from Mo Chit in Bangkok take around two hours and cost about 110 baht, with the last one back leaving in the early evening. From Ayutthaya, buses go every twenty minutes and take a couple of hours for 35 baht, or the train does it in about an hour for twenty baht in third class.

The old town is about a square kilometre and walking it is the point; only the trips out into the province need transport. The blue local bus loops between the bus station a couple of kilometres out and the town centre for eight baht, passing the shrine on its way in.

Motorcycle taxis and car taxis are easy to find and are the only way to reach anything out in the province, since the ride hailing apps do not operate here. Agree the price before you get on.

They are wild animals living in a town centre, concentrated around the Khmer towers and the shrine across the road from them. They will take food out of your hand, go through an unzipped bag on the assumption that it contains some, and sit on wires and ledges above the pavement with the habits that implies for whatever is underneath.

The rules are simple: carry nothing loose, no plastic bags, no bottles in an outside pocket, no sunglasses on your head, and do not offer food unless you want to be surrounded. The population has dropped over the past couple of years after the authorities began relocating and sterilising them, so the streets are calmer than the videos suggest, but the old town is still theirs.

King Narai ruled Siam from 1656 to 1688 and spent much of each year in Lopburi rather than Ayutthaya. He built a palace here in 1677 with French, Italian and Portuguese engineers on the job, and used it to receive the embassies that passed between his court and that of Louis XIV.

His chief minister was Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek who arrived as a trader, learned the languages and rose further than any foreigner in Siamese history. It ended badly for everyone: as Narai lay dying, a coup swept away the French garrison, the treaties and Phaulkon, who was executed in 1688. The walls of his house still stand a few streets from the palace.

Stay in the old town within walking distance of the ruins. The choice is small guest houses and modest hotels rather than anything smart, and prices are provincial. The newer part of Lopburi, out towards the army bases, has bigger hotels and nothing to walk to.

Eat at the night market and the shophouse restaurants around the old quarter. There is one much loved restaurant in a white colonial style building near the ruins whose owner will happily plan the rest of your day for you, and a steakhouse out of town run by a Belgian for when you have had enough rice.