Ta Muan Temple
One of Thailand’s remotest and least visited Angkor period temples, yet its very remoteness, jungle setting and total lack of tourist development are exactly what made it a great little temple to visit. It’s missing the grandeur of Phanom Rung, the photogenic lily ponds of Muan Tam and the well-preserved carvings of Sikhoraphum, but Ta Muan is an interesting enough temple and certainly an atmospheric site.
Ta Muan Tom, Thai-Cambodian border A great shame that the current border squabbling, (if you can still call it ‘squabbling, after heavy artillery fire and over 10 deaths), has spread to this quiet backwater but with the black-uniformed border patrol at the northern entrance to the temple and the Khmer, flip-flop clad troops a mere 10m from the southern rampart, it always had the potential to be a flash-point, even if things in that part of Surin had been quiet until now. (Though we do remember Hun Sen being abruptly turned down a year or so back when he suddenly announced his intention to visit Ta Muan in person!)
We understood the temple itself is in Thai territory and weren’t aware that particular section of the frontier was in dispute. However, at this point, the respective border checkpoints are approximately 200 metres apart, so Ta Muan Thom is indeed situated in the no-man’s land stuck between the 2, (When we visited a year ago, Khmer and Thai soldiers were sitting around chatting and drinking coffee.)
Ta Muan Toch, the arogyasala or ‘hospital chapel’ Ta Muan is actually 3 separate, but adjacent sites: Ta Muan Tom – the larger, sandstone Suryavarman I period temple right on the border, Ta Muan Toch – a Jayavarman VII era ‘hospital chapel’ a kilometre or so down the road and nearby to that and contemporary with it, what appears to be a ‘fire temple’ named simply Ta Muan.
Ta Muan – the Fire Temple or Dharmasala Slightly complicated but indicating that Ta Muan was a relatively important site for a lengthy period during the Angkor Empire, being situated at a pass in the Dandreks and on the road from Angkor to Phimai. Sadly, reports do indicate recent damage and also sadly, we’re not sure when we’re going to be able to visit this evocative site again! Our Emerald Triangle and Thailand World Heritage tours will now be restricted to Phanom Rung and Muan Tam, for the foreseeable future, both of which are far enough away from the border.
Please check our Thai page for all our small group tours to Thailand.
