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Wat Phra That Harinphunchai Lamphun, a small northern province sandwiched between Chiang Mai and Lampang has a long and storied history. Lamphun was founded as the city of Haripunjaya, a Mon kingdom-city, arguably part of the Dvaravati civilization, by Queen Camadevi, daughter of the king of Lopburi, who established a legacy for the province’s reputation for beautiful women. The kingdom she ruled over thrived for several centuries, exerting wide influence across the region, before King Meng Rai used subterfuge to conquer the town in late 12th century and integrate it into the Lan Na Kingdom based in nearby Chiang Mai.

North	: Chiang Mai	East	: Lampang
South	: Lampang and Tak	West	: Chiang Mai

Distances to Other Provinces
Chiang Mai	21 km	Tak	244 km
Lampang	71 km

Distances from Amphoe Mueang Lamphun to Other Districts
Pa Sang	11 km	Wiang Nong Long	45 km
Mae Tha	25 km	Li	105 km
Ban Thi	26 km	Thung Hua Chang	105 km
Ban Hong	40 km

Lamphun Wine and Sausage Festival
When: 17-19 January 
Where: Cuturak Center, Tambon U-thong, Amphoe Mueang

Lamphun Wine and Sausage Festival Experience the Northern beauty by Ping Hang Riverbank and don’t miss the chance to enjoy Northern spicy sausage whilst sipping the unique local longan (type of fruit) wine from U-Mong Village, Lamphun in this Wine and Sausage tasting festival. Apart from this famous fruit wine, equally awaited are also a wide range of delicious wines made in Thailand and imported ready to be sampled and purchased including booths of northern sausages, OTOP and Blue Flag (special priced) products. Also included entertainments are local performances and competitions in Kae Curry making and Northern Sausage making, a flower float procession as well as a musical and drum-beating band. When: 30 January - 3 February
Where: By Kua Mung Ta Sing Bridge (opposite Phra That Haripunchai Temple)
Lamphun is well-known for its cotton weaving and distinguished design handed down from the royal court to present day with its meticulous intricacy. The festival, whose theme is “Roaming the roofed bridge, wearing woven clothing and viewing Lamphun’s priceless artifacts.”, showcases the performance called “Paying homage to the Haripunchai Temple”, a fashion show of clothes made with a raised flower pattern, exhibition on history of multi-pattern woven fabric at Wan Tonkaeo Museum, and a demonstration of Lamphun’s spectacular art of weaving including a cotton weaving beauty competition as well as a hand-made fabric sale. When: February
Where: Phra That Hariphunchai Temple
Held annually, Best of Sri Hariphunchai Festival showcases cultural shows and performance as well as various booths selling agricultural products including the processed ones, all produced by the group of Lamphun farmers and housewives. Other highlights are also a parade of housewives group, a contest of beautiful country house, and a handicraft fair, to name a few. When: Early March
Where: Pra Pud Tha Bath Tak Pha Temple, Amphoe Pa Sang
Lamphun is a province of long-standing history, culture, tradition and natural resources where people are still proud of and willing to conserve their heritage. There are celebrations and ceremonies all year round and one of the most prestigious ones would be “Lanna Giant Drums Festival”, the event held annually from 2001 during the pilgrimage season to worship the Lord Buddha’s footprint at Phrabat Takpha Temple in Amphur Pa Sang. The highlighted performance are a northern Fon Lep show (fingernail dance), a procession of giant silver bowl, drums and drum beating for entering battle and joining a royal procession. The procession starts from the temple entrance to the chapel to take the holy water to wash the Lord Buddha’s footprint. One of the not-to-be-missed programmes would definitely be a drum beating contest. When: Mid May
Where: Phra That Hariphunchai Temple
Phra That Hariphunchai Temple was built during the reign of King Arthitayarat, a descendant of Queen Chamthewi some 800 years ago. Holy relics were enshrined in a massive 46-metre tall golden Chedi called Phra That Hariphunchai whose present appearance was the result of the restoration work in 1443 by a king of Chiang Mai. To pay homage to one of the most sacred monuments in Northern Thailand, Song Nam Phra That Hariphunchai festival has long been held and attracts Buddhists in Lamphun and nearby provinces as well as visitors. Besides the religious ceremony, also included are cultural performance, battle drum beating contest, royal drum beating contest and nail-covered dance shows (fon lep). When: Between July and August
Where: Lamphun Provincial Stadium

Longan Festival Aside from being Thailand’s major producer of garlic and onion, Lamphun also boasts lognan, as their well-known and important revenue-created product. The Longan Festival is held annually to promote and distribute this tasty and popular fruit as well as to raise an income for local longan growers. Beautifully decorated Longan Parade, Best quality longan contest, Longan Beauty Queen contest are highlights of the festival including stalls of special priced longan and other local agricultural produce as well as technical exhibition to help provide farmers and interested participants with improved technology and knowledge related to longan production and processing. When: End of Nov - Early Dec
Where: Lamphun Provincial Stadium
The Queen Chamthewi and Red Cross Winter Fair of Lamphun is held every year after the harvest. The festival features Miss Lamphun and Daughter of Yong’s contests, exhibitions and booths selling a wide selection of handicrafts and local products from governmental and private sectors including stage performance and cultural shows such as Fon Lep (fingernail dance) and batter drum beating, to name a few. When: Last week of December
Where: Phrabat Huay Tom Village, Amphoe Li
Started in 1997, The Amazing Karen Festival is held with an aim to preserve tradition and culture and to promote the tourism of Karen hill tribes at Ban Phrabat Huay Tom. The ethnic Karen, consisting of Po Karen and Pako Karen, live off farming and making silverware. They observe Buddhism and are generally vegetarians. Be a part of this festival and witness the ancient bicycle riding from Amphur Li to Phrabat Huay Tom Village, tribal style boxing, buffalo horn blowing including enjoy the sale of silver ornament, Karen percale as well as percale making contest.
The Queen Chamthewi and Red Cross
Winter Fair of Lamphun When: December
Where: Cooperative Dairy Cattle Lamphun, Amphoe Ban Thi
Northern dairy cattle breeder club and Cooperative group for dairy cow breeding and processed dairy products 2010 join hands to organise “Northern Dairy Festival” after the festival’s successful first season in 2010. The festival features exhibition and services offering advice on accounting, book keeping for the household, cost accounting management for agriculturists, youths and ordinary people attended. Moreover, Cooperative Dairy Cattle Lamphun Limited also helps the attendees in creating easy home accounting and cost accounting suitable for their profession. When: 31 Dec – 2 Jan
Where: Pa Sang Handicraft Exhibition Center
Pa Sang Heritage Festival is held annually in an effort to bring this lovely town back to its glory like how it once was under the spotlight and renowned for being a center of Lamphun’s hand woven cotton. The community still carries on making hand woven cotton and quilt blankets, however, only for wholesale nowadays. Products such as hand made cotton, quilt blankets and other handicrafts as well as food and wine can be bought and viewed at the festival along with other shows and contests.

 

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