These are pictures of Khmer Temples in Phimai, Phnom Rung, Meuang Tam and Ta Meuan in NE Thailand. These temples are stringed along the 225km long highway that once led from Angkor, now in Cambodia, to Phimai, now in Thailand, when both were part of the Khmer empire.

Phimai is about 70 km North East from Khorat, or Nakhon Ratchasima, which can be easily reached by train from Bangkok. I hopped onto a local bus to Phimai, where an elephant (presumably from Surin) greeted me and later a night pop concert, but I could never figure out the occasion. Phimai appears to have been an important administrative center of the Khmer empire during the 11th and 12th centuries, possibly the most important one North of the Dangrek moutain range (effectively the present day Northern border of Cambodia with Thailand). A straight road connected Phimai with Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire. From Phimai, the road South towards Angkor led past the mountain temple of Phom Rung, the temple complex of Meuang Tam and the "temple-fortress" Ta Meuan Tom, and this article will show pictures of these temples from my visit in August 2006. Another famous Khmer temple in the Dangrek Range is Preah Vihear, which I have covered in a separate article.