Phu Phra Bat Buabok Forest Park, Udon Thani Province, Thailand

5V M 5:00 PM Feb 9, 2019

Suitably disappointing
This part is in Udon Than but actually easier to reach from Nong Kai. It is atop a hill and includes a circular trail among a series of unusual rock formations, each one of which is part of story that depending on your perspective is about: 1) a SE Asian version of Romeo and Juliet or 2) men are fundamentally disappointing. The story (as far as I know) has never been written but has passed down orally from generations over the a few thousand years (I've heard versions in NE Cambodia and Laos that are also set atop saddle back mountains and involve women outwitting men ... I think the story originated in Laos. The image on this page is the home of Usa ... she had been sent to live in isolation by her father (a king) because he was fearful of her beauty. She was raised by a monk. One day she folded some leaves into the shape of bird and set it adrift in a stream. It was later found by the prince (Boras) of a rival king who traced the stream to its source and found Usa. Each rock formation is associated with a chapter of the story .. the stable where he left his horses, etc. The father of Usa challenged Boras to a temple building contest ... with the winner being the one who built the tallest temple by morning. The loser would be decapitated by the winner. When Usa noticed her father (and his soldiers) were far ahead of boras, she hung a lantern on a long pole and extended it from atop the hill. Her father thought the sun was about to rise ... so he and his crew stopped building their temple. This allowed Boras to catch up and eventually win. He decapitated the father and took Usa back to his palace. Unfortunately, however, he had a harem and Usa was unpopular with its other members. He went hunting one day and did not return for weeks and the women in the harem started fighting ...Usa fled back to her hilltop and her room in the rock. Much later Boras returned and found she had fled so he returned to her hilltop ... arriving a day after she had died. He put her in a tomb and then found another for himself where he committed suicide. This is where the circular route around the hill top ends. There are other sights ... a cliff one one side plunges a few hundred meters. if you have never felt vertigo you may feel it there. There are also prehistoric etchings ... one in is just a hand print ... like a high five reaching out to you from thousands of years ago. Also, some sacred steps believed to have been made by the Buddha when he traveled through the area. Very few visitors ... and take water during the hot season. there are a few guards at the entrance but they were on siesta when I visited, which added to the disappointing feeling I had when i left. It would help if there was detailed guide book explaining in more detail ... but there are signs marking the path and some warnings about poisonous snakes .... so i suppose you should wear hiking boots. If you are interested in myths or archaeology then this is a must visit site in NE Thailand.

5Raintree_Thailand 5:00 PM May 27, 2022

History, nature and culture collide!
The administrative arrangements for this area are quite confusing. The Phu Phra Bat Buabok Forest Park is a larger administrative designation established as part of the Pa Kua Num Forest Reserve in 1996. The Phu Phra Bat Buabok Forest Park is managed by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. The Forest Park also contains within its boundaries, the Phu Prabhat Historical Park, with is adminstered by the Fine Arts Department (due to the historical importance of the site). This latter area is where most visitors spend their time and attention (see separate TripAdvisor listing for more reviews and details), although there are also some nice forests and sights within the wider forest park and a separate office on the road leading to the historical park.