Lampang is the northern province most shaped by a single export. Teak from the surrounding hills paid for horse carriages, coffee, the Indo-China war memorial and the ceramics that carry the town's name around the world, and the buildings that trade paid for are still standing.

Community and culture

Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, rebuilt in the early twentieth century under King Chulalongkorn, is the largest and most visited temple in the province. Lampang vases are a specific kind of gold-lustre glazed ceramic, still made in town. The horse carriages that wait outside the market gate are working vehicles rather than props, and Talat Sao Nak, the night market in converted warehouses, is the place the town eats after dark.

Nature and landscape

Chae Son waterfall is the classic stop and the walk down is shaded the whole way. Ban Sao Nak is a handicraft village within the city, and further out Huay Nam Yuam, one of the highest tea-growing areas in Thailand, sits close to the clouds.