Travellers already jaded by the stereotypical touristic Thai images of the Wat Sai Floating Market (where tourists outnumber the market vendors), gem scams & rip off artists in Bangkok and disappointing visits to Nike-clad "exotic" Hill Tribes of Chiang Mai can actually find sanctuary from the excesses of the tourist package in the less known Angkor temples found in the North-East area of this beautiful country, Thailand.

One can easily get to Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), the main city of North-East Thailand, from Bangkok. Khorat serves as an ideal spring board to explore the impressive Angkoresque ruins in Phimai and Prasat Phanom Rung.

These Angkor styled ruins that are found in Thai territory are also a plausible and much safer alternative to the somewhat more daunting trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where one must get to, in order to see the most magnificent ruins in South East Asia, Angkor Wat. After visiting Angkor Wat in 1994, I was enamored by these stunning temples that I have become an Angkorphile, seizing every opportunity to see as many of this style of ruins as possible.

The Khmer Angkor Empire extended its greatest influence from the 9th to 11th centuries AD. At its height, it claimed suzerainty over all of Cambodia, large tracts of modern day Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The Angkor kings saw themselves as semi-divine manifestations of Hindu gods or the Buddha. Switching easily between being Hindus and Buddhists as the political winds determined. The greatest historical legacy of the Angkor God-kings was the construction of the world's largest religious monuments, Angkor Wat at Siem Reap in the 11th Century AD. Like the Romans and other great empires, these Angkor sovereigns built lasting testaments to their rule in the many territories that they conquered. These ruins are not as heavily promoted as the other Thai travel attractions found elsewhere so it makes the are less touristed.

The rickety train ride from Bangkok to Khorat was a noisy 4 hour hard seat affair (not recommended for souls or rears of more a delicate constitution) & I had to fend off regular but polite food peddlers who traipsed up and down the rail cars hawking skewered barbecued chicken, ice grass jelly drinks and sweetened rice cakes. The Thai train system is free of crime, unlike most other third world railway systems e.g. India, and many locals use because it is much more safe than the hair-raising bus rides that connect the many cities around Thailand.

This train ride however was through some captivating and scenic virgin forest of the Khorat Plateau. The flora and wildlife is diverse and makes a welcome relief from the noise and bustle of Bangkok. En route, there is the magnificent huge white Buddha, Wat Theppitak, majestically set in the luscious, verdant green hillside. The alert traveller can spot it on the right side of the train after the Muak Lek train station.

Khorat is a town that prospered, like most of the North-East provincial capitols of Thailand, as a result of the US Air Force presence during the Vietnam War. Getting off at the Khorat train station, one should brush off all tuk tuk touts hungrily prowling the railway entrance like sharks. Upon arrival at the train station, I used the overhead pedestrian bridge to cross the road. On the road heading east, hail and take the more comfortable and regular air-con east-bound public bus No. 2. At 10 baht, this bus is the best ride in town.

There are several budget to moderate accommodation facilities around Burin Thanon bus station. I stayed at the First Hotel (because it was indeed the first hotel that you will see from the Burin Thanon bus station). The other alternative of Tokyo Hotel was way too grotty. It was a functional Chinese-owned hotel with no English sign in front. My knowledge of the Kanji characters came in handy this tim. It was occupied by a visiting provincial soccer team so the guests were quite boisterous but the room charge was 300 baht or US$12.00 a night with all the works, a 14" vintage color television (in Thai of course), a rattling refrigerator, tepid hot showers and a suspect toilet with a bucket system of flushing, where you fill up a bucket of water & you pour the water down toilet to flush it. This is already near-luxury for a backpacker but this hotel is very accessible to the public bus station (Baw Kaw Saw) to Phimai and Prasat Phanom Rung.

The Baw Kaw Saw to Phimai and Prasat Phanom Rung is someway out of the main city and there is a regular song thaew {a pick-up truck fitted with two plywood rows - hence song (two) thaew (row)} that leaves the Burin Thanon bus station for a princely sum of 3 baht. This favorably compares to the gross extortionate rate of 50 baht, regardless of destination, of nearly all tuk-tuk drivers in Khorat. This town and area is renown for its delicious Issan cuisine like roast frog salad, mee korat (Khorat ramen), barbecued chicken and duck and is a must for the visitor there.

The night market at Khorat is an excellent microcosm of provincial Thai society where you see Thais of stripes, those driving Mercedes Benzes and bicycles, thronging the stalls and putting on the Ritz (at least for this provincial part of Thailand). Most of the Thais here are used to Americans because they are some Vietnam vets that stayed behind and set up roots here. Khorat has a pretty much laid back feel about it but at certain times, the city can be as noisy and dusty as Bangkok, the mecca of noise and dust.

From the Baw Kaw Saw, the noisy and fan-cooled public bus No. 1307 ride to Phimai was nothing spectacular save for the breaknecking speed of the bus. This one and a half hour bus ride can be slept through as the bus ends its run, just outside the ruins in Phimai.

Modern Phimai jealously guards the Phimai Historical Park, so much so that it appears to choke the beauty of the Hindu Mahayana Buddhist ruins, Prasat Hin Phimai. But one can easily forsake the omnipresent souvenir stands and gingerly step into the ancient complex of Phimai, which served as a healing station on the route to the apex of Angkor civilization, Angkor Wat. An ancient road, presently inaccessible due to Khmer Rouge hostilities, connected the Pratu Chia, the Victory Gate of Phimai, right to the doorstep of Angkor Wat.

The Phimai ruins actually pre-date Angkor Wat and there is a theory that the Angkor kings were trying out models of construction before the Big One at Angkor Wat. There may be some truth to that fanciful theory as the buildings in these ruins are very much like Angkor Wat in miniature and upon visiting these sites in North East Thailand, one should bear in mind that these ruins are only about one tenth the size of the entire Angkor Wat complex.

Phimai's haunting main shrine is made of glorious and elaborately sculpted white sandstone which has braved the ravages of age, climate and pollution. Khorat become a booming industrial satellite for Thai industry and investment. Hopefully, this does not do any lasting or visible damage to the ruins in Phimai. The surrounding shrines in the Park are made of pink sandstone and laterite. In the sunshine, the structures have an lustrous glow. the ruins are best viewed in the crack of dawn or sunset as this avoids most of the Japanese and gaijin tourist package day trippers and tourist buses who make a routine 30 minute stop, create a ruckus, destroy the tranquility and serenity of the ruins.

Some of the better lintels and sculptures are found in the small but very interesting Phimai Museum, just outside the ruins. But nothing beats tramping about sandstone ruins and laterite pillars as the ruins in Phimai are far better than the modern concrete cosmetic jobs done on other Khmer-influenced temples found in the Thai ruins of Ayuthya ( Wat Ratburana) & Sukhothai (Wat Si Sawai).

But the jewel in the crown of Thailand's Angkor monuments must be Prasat Phanom Rung. Perched spectacularly on an extinct volcano, it commands an awe-inspiring view of this rural and hilly region of Thailand. It is also a 2 hour public bus ride from Khorat. Like the haul to Phimai, I took a Surin-bound public bus (there are many companies to choose from) and this is an excellent opportunity to savor the death defying stunts of those indomitable Thai bus-driving speed demons.

Thai buses are a unique world travelling experience. There are several private companies that ply routes to several far flung destinations all over Thailand. The patronage of these bus companies is determined by the speed that the private bus drivers take to reach their destination rather than the safety record of the bus companies. For those who do not secretly aspire to be Nigel Mansell, the public bus services have a better safety record. Whatever it is, just make sure that you tell the bus driver that you want to stop off at Ban Ta Ko (which is some remote intersection along the highway to Surin) or else you'll end up at Surin and the only thing to do in Surin is see the elephant round-up, if it's in season.

I gingerly took a private bus all the way to Ban Ta Ko and I was accompanied by a wizened grandmother who tried to speak Thai to me before she was told by the bus conductor that I wasn't Thai despite my dark brown tan. The ride was the usual. Fast, scary and dangerous and it abruptly ended after a determined screeching stop at Ban Ta Ko. A horde of village urchins peddling snacks and drinks swarmed around me the instant I got off the bus. I was adequately prepared as I had frozen two bottles of Thai drinking water in the rattling refrigerator in my room.

Once at Ban Ta Ko, my commuting choices to the ruins were limited. I either had to patiently wait for a song thaew to the Ruins or take the more swashbuckling motorcycle taxi up the winding road of the extinct volcano. I opted for the more adventurous option. On the way up to the ruins, one will surely spot the main sandstone Prasat, 383 meters above sea level; dominating the extinct volcano cone, like a spear head thrust into the clear blue sky. The glittering sandstone ruins of Prasat Phanom Rung are the best I've seen in Thailand and ranks amongst the top in South-East Asia. This set of ruins was very well restored avoiding the overly tarted up cosmetic restoration jobs prevalent elsewhere in the world. There are the usual souvenir shops in front of the ruins but you can avoid these shops entirely & thereby saving the exploration experience.

There is a palatial 160 meter long laterite paved Promenade that leads to the main temple complex. Flanking the Promenade are stone lanterns that once burnt bright into the night. The walk down the laterite Promenade ends with the first of three undamaged and surviving Naga bridges. The Naga is a 5 headed sacred cobra deity in Hindu/Buddhist religion and is widely used in all the Angkor monuments in South East Asia.

The sculptures exhibits Hindu iconography relating to the worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Well preserved and stark sandstone bas relief can still be found in the lintels and pediments over the doorways to the central monuments and key points of the sanctuary. Most of the bas reliefs depict the story of the creation of the Hindu universe and the world. The churning of the sea of milk producing the stars, the planets, gods, mortals and heroic Hindu legends are all eloquently told. with timeless appeal. The bas reliefs and artistry of the Hindu iconography in Prasat Phanom Rung are characteristic of the zenith of Khmer artistic achievement. Undeniably, this is on par with that found in Angkor Wat. The energy and beauty of the dancing figures, deities, kings, courtesans of the reliefs can absorb the visitor for hours. From the top of the ruins, you could see the distant hills of Dongrek Hills of Cambodia - serene, inviting but ominous.

These ruins can be easily explored under 2 hours and if the traveller has time and baht to spare, Prasat Meuang Tam can be reached by motorcycle taxi. But the Meuang Tam ruins are still in unrestored condition and they will be only meaningful for those Angkor diehards, like yours truly. Those with less time to spare can safely skip Prasat Meuang Tam unless you can negotiate a good package deal with the motorcycle taxi.

All in all, Prasat Phanom Rung and Phimai were well worth the toil to visit even though it involved getting into that neck of woods in Thailand. It was a thoroughly enjoyable detour from the usually tried and tired Bangkok-Sukothai-Chiang Mai-Phuket circuit and is highly commended. Best of all, it serves as a grand appetizer or a dessert treat for Angkor Wat.

Another Thai Angkor period temple on my Angkorphile agenda is Khao Phra Wihaan near Si Saket province, Thailand. This temple is actually in Cambodia but it involves a precarious road border crossing into Cambodia. Due to the continued troubles and fluid political situation around that part of Cambodia, I have not yet explored that testament to the glorious Angkor god-kings. This is situation that I hope will be remedied in the not too distant future.