Ban Prasat, Nakhon Ratchasima
Ban Prasat, Thailand.
Ban Prasat is a small village located about 30 or 40 km north or Nakhon Ratchasima. It’s well known because they discovered artefacts and tombs over there, showing how people were living in this area about 3,000 years ago. These people lived about 500 years over there, planting rice and domesticated animal, near the banks of Mae Nam Than Prasat. These discoveries were completed in 1991 but the excavation of some pits in the area.
Ban Prasat Map.
Ban Prasat has received international awards (The PATA gold award 1994 for Pata heritage and culture granted by the Pacific Asia travel Association and the Asenta awards 1996 for excellence in tourism granted by the ASEAN Tourism Association).
Beside the village, you will find 3 excavations sites, a museum and also some home offering stays for visitors and tourists.
Excavation pit that can be seen in Ban Prasat.
The tombs discoved show burial practices in the area. It involves placement of the dead along with offerings in a ractangle grave. The first internments are date to the Bronze Age, from about 1,000 BC. Human remains as old as 3,000 years ago were found there with pottery and bronze ornaments.
The museum is small but quite nice. The museum explains about the excavations pits and discoveries made. It shows how people were living in the area, and has also numerous artefacts found in the excavations pits.
A few years ago, I did the “home stay” in Ban Prasat. Information can be obtained at the TAT office beside Sima Thani hotel. We paid about 400 baht per person for a dinner at the house + a room for the night. The dinner was great, involving local specialties. The room was clean and the family very nice. They showed us the local primary school and the whole village. The only problem is that they didn’t speak English and everything had to be done in Thai.
This is an example of home stay.
Ban Prasat flyer.
If you like these kinds of place, you will have to visit BAN CHIANG near Udon Thani. That place is really nice. Links:-
t
- Ban prasat pictures t
- Museum pictures t
- Excavation site pictures t
- TAT website t
- Other pictures of Ban Prasat on Flickr t
- Ban Prasat with pictures and FRENCH text
Useful Legal Resources for Expats in Thailand
Ban Prasat Nakhon Ratchasima Archaeological Site
- Usufruct Agreement in Thailand
- Divorce in Thailand: Complete Guide
- Social Security in Thailand for Expats
- Same-Sex Marriage in Thailand
Isaan & Northeast Thailand
What Was Found at Ban Prasat
Archaeological excavations at Ban Prasat have unearthed three distinct periods of human habitation, going back approximately 3,000–3,500 years. The finds include bronze tools and jewellery, iron implements, pottery, and – most strikingly – intact burial sites. Some skeletons were found still wearing the ornaments they were buried with: shell bracelets, ceramic necklaces, and bronze rings. These graves tell us that the people of Ban Prasat had a sophisticated social structure, engaged in long-distance trade (the shells came from the sea, hundreds of kilometres away), and held beliefs about an afterlife.
The Open Excavation Pits
What makes Ban Prasat unusual as a heritage site is that three of the original excavation pits remain open for visitors to see. Glass panels protect the excavations while allowing you to look directly down at the layered soil and the bones still in place. It is a rare chance to see prehistoric burial in context, rather than through museum displays. Each pit has information boards explaining what was found and what it reveals about Bronze Age life in northeast Thailand.
The Onsite Museum
A small but well-curated museum adjacent to the pits displays the objects recovered during excavations: bronze axes, earthenware pots, shell ornaments, stone tools, and samples of the unique clay-tempered pottery style distinctive to this period and region. Signage is in both Thai and English. The museum gives important context for understanding why this site matters – Ban Prasat is considered one of the key reference sites for understanding the Bronze and Iron Ages in mainland Southeast Asia.
Getting There
Ban Prasat is located about 45 km north of Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) on Highway 2 toward Khon Kaen. Turn off at the Ban Prasat intersection and follow signs to the site. The open pits and museum are free to enter. Allow an hour or two for a thorough visit.
