Lopburi

Lopburi (Thai: ลพบุรี, RTGS: Lop Buri, pronounced [lóp bū.rīː]) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand, about 150 km (93 mi) northeast of Bangkok. The town (thesaban mueang) covers the whole of tambon Tha Hin and part of Thale Chup Son in Mueang Lopburi District, an area of 6.85 km2 (2.64 sq mi), and has a population of 58,000. It is known for the long-tailed macaques that live around its Khmer monuments, and the Royal Thai Army Special Warfare Command is based just outside it. The site has been occupied since prehistory and was one of the larger moated settlements of the Dvaravati period, when it was a regional centre with more subordinate towns than any other on the central plain. As Lavapura, or Lavo, it was incorporated into the Khmer Empire under Suryavarman I, and Chinese and European records of the following centuries know it under further names. Under Ayutthaya it was a stronghold of the kings, and in the mid-17th century King Narai made it a second capital and lived there for much of the year.