Phimai ( th, พิมาย) is a township ('' thesaban tambon'') in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in northeast Thailand. As of 2005 the town had a population of 9,768. The town is the administrative center of the

Phimai District Phimai (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the northeastern part of Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand. History Phimai was an ancient Khmer city named ''Vimai'' or ''Vimayapura''. A stone pillar dating to the reign of King Sur ...

. In the aftermath of the fall of the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...

in 1767, attempts were made to set up five separate states, with Prince Teppipit, a son of king

Boromakot Borommakot ( th, บรมโกศ, ) or Maha Thammarachathirat II ( th, สมเด็จพระมหาธรรมราชาธิราชที่ ๒) was the king of Ayutthaya from 1733 to 1758. His reign was the last blooming perio ...

, attempting to establish Phimai as one, holding sway over eastern provinces including Nakhon Ratchasima. The weakest of the five, Prince Teppipit was the first defeated and was executed in 1768. Phimai had also been an important town at the time of the Khmer empire. The region was integrated into the Khmer state around 1000 CE.Higham, C, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. For the following 300 years, Phimai was a major regional administrative center.Welch, D. J. (1998). "Archaeology of north-east Thailand in relation to the pre-Khmer and Khmer historical records". ''International Journal of Historical Archaeology'', 2(3), 205-233. The temple Prasat Hin Phimai, in the center of the town, was one of the major Khmer temples in what is now Thailand, connected with Angkor by the Khmer highway, and oriented so as to face Angkor as its

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...

. The site is now protected as the

Phimai Historical Park The Phimai Historical Park ( km, ប្រាសាទពិមាយ, , th, ปราสาทหินพิมาย, ) is one of the largest Hindu Khmer temples in Thailand. It is located in the town of Phimai, Nakhon Ratchasima province. I ...

. Phimai has recently been the base of operations for the excavation of Ban Non Wat.

Korat cat

Phimai is thought to be the place where the famed Korat cat breed originated.

References

External links

* Populated places in Nakhon Ratchasima province {{NakhonRatchasima-geo-stub de:Phimai