An old Khmer temple ruin known as Tapieng Roun uncovered in Buachet district of Surin, near the Cambodian border, as a reservoir dried up during the dry season. fromthe drounght.(Photo by Nopparat Kingkaew)
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SURIN — The ruins of an ancient Khmer temple have been revealed by the receding water in a reservoir that has dried up in Buachet district near the border with Cambodia.
The temple is called Tapien Roun by the people of Otalan Pattana village in tambon Charat. “Tapieng Roun” in the Khmer language means a temple in a pond surrounded by indigenous trees called “roun”.
It is located close to the Thai-Cambodian border, about one kilometre from the village.
The ruins are believed to those of twin pagodas, one representing a man and the other a woman.
Nan Potham, 75, of Ban Charat Pattana, said he had removed some items from the ruins and given them to Ban Otalan School to be kept as sources of local knowledge and history, for fear they would be looted and sold to foreign artefact collectors.
Elderly people in villages near the temple said the site was once examined by Nakhon Ratchasima-based Fine Arts Department officials, but they never returned.
In the passing years, many pieces of the ruins have disappeared. Signs of excavations by treasure hunters are often seen at the site during the dry season when water in the reservoir drops.
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This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.