The famous Thai epic "Khun Chang Khun Phan" has been around for hundreds of years. No-one knows for certain when it was first written. However, the events depicted in this classic story are believed to have taken place around 1500. The story was passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. It wasn't until the 19th Century that King Rama II, King Rama III and other prestigious poets of the time, decided to collect all accounts of this story and then write a definitive version. The following synopsis of the story is illustrated with photographs I took of the wall painting at Wat Pa Lelai in Suphan Buri.

Today, on 26th June, we are celebrating the birthday of one of Thailand’s greatest poets: Sunthorn Phu. Although he was born in the late 18th Century, his work is still influential even today. I have already talked a number of times about his work. (I will give you some links to these blogs in a moment.) Today I want to introduce a story that he wrote together with King Rama II, King Rama II and other great poets of the time. It is called “The Story of Khun Chang Khun Phan”. This is an important piece of work that you should read in order to better understand life and culture in Thailand. It is a story of love and war, drama and horror, and love and tragedy. It is probably a forerunner of all modern soap operas.

In my last blog I talked about the defeat of the Thai by the Burmese in the 1760s. Conflicts with Burma are a recurring theme in this area. A short distance away, at Don Chedi in Suphan Buri, is a memorial to the 1592 victory over the Burmese.  We spent a pleasant day taking in some of the sights in Suphan Buri, but really just scratched the surface. Writing this blog, I realise that one of the themes for the day was animals.

On the way back home from our trip to Suphanburi, we stopped at a really amazing temple complex called Wat Pai Rong Rua. It is popular with people from Bangkok who drive up here for the day. It is quite easy to find. Just take highway 340 and then look out for the turning on the left for Song Phi Nong. The temple presented itself a long time before we arrived at the front gate. This was because the massive 54 metre high sitting Buddha could be seen miles away. I am pretty sure that this must be the largest Buddha image in Thailand. The only other big one I have seen is in Ayutthaya and that is a measly 19 metres high!