Phimai () is a township (''

thesaban tambon Thesaban (, , , Pali, Pali: desapāla (protector of region) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesa ...

'') in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in northeast

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. As of 2005 the town had a population of 9,768. The town is the administrative center of the Phimai District. In the aftermath of the fall of the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...

in 1767, attempts were made to set up five separate states, with Prince Teppipit, a son of king Boromakot, attempting to establish Phimai as one, holding sway over eastern provinces including

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima (, ) is the capital of Nakhon Ratchasima province, the largest city in Isan, Northeastern Thailand and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, third-largest city in Thailand. It is 250 km (1 ...

. The weakest of the five, Prince Teppipit was the first defeated and was executed in 1768. Phimai had also been an important town at the time of the

Khmer empire The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja (; ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 t ...

. The region was integrated into the Khmer state around 1000 CE.Higham, C, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. For the following 300 years, Phimai was a major regional administrative center.Welch, D. J. (1998). "Archaeology of north-east Thailand in relation to the pre-Khmer and Khmer historical records". ''International Journal of Historical Archaeology'', 2(3), 205-233. The temple Prasat Hin Phimai, in the center of the town, was one of the major Khmer temples in what is now Thailand, connected with

Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...

by the Khmer highway, and oriented so as to face Angkor as its

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The ...

. The site is now protected as the

Phimai Historical Park The Phimai Historical Park () is a historical parks of Thailand, historical park in Thailand, covering the ancient town of Phimai and the ruins of Prasat Phimai , ; , ) the largest ancient Khmer architecture, Khmer-Hindu temple in Thailand. It i ...

. Phimai has recently been the base of operations for the excavation of Ban Non Wat.

Korat cat

Phimai is thought to be the place where the famed

Korat The Korat cat (, ) is a silver-tipped blue-grey, short-haired Cat breed, breed of Cat, domestic cat with a small to medium build and a low percentage of Adipose tissue, body fat. Its body is semi-cobby, and unusually heavy for its size. It is an ...

cat breed originated.

References

External links

* Populated places in Nakhon Ratchasima province {{NakhonRatchasima-geo-stub de:Phimai