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Inside the Bangkok city pillar shrine. The longer pillar is the original of Rama I, the shorter was added by King Mongkut (Rama IV)

A Lak Mueang (Thai: หลักเมือง) or City pillar is found in most cities of Thailand. Usually housed in a shrine which is also believed to house the city spirit deity, it is held in high esteem by the citizen of the town.

It was probably King Rama I, who erected the first city pillar on April 21, 1782, when he moved his capital from Thonburi to Bangkok. The shrine was actually the first building of his new capital, the Palace and other buildings were created later.

Shortly after the shrine in Bangkok, similar shrines were built in strategical provinces to symbolize the central power, such as in Songkhla. Further shrines were created during the reign of King Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (Rama II) in Nakhon Khuen Khan and Samut Prakan, and by King Nangklao (Rama III) in Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi and Battambang (now Cambodia). However after King Mongkut raised a new pillar in Bangkok no further shrines in the provinces were built.

In 1944 prime minister Phibul Songkhram had a city pillar built in Phetchabun, as he intended to move the capital to this town. Though this plan failed to get approval by the parliament, the idea of city pillars caught on and in the following years several provincial towns built new shrines. In 1992, the Interior Ministry issued an order that every province now should have such a shrine.

The building style of the shrines varies. Especially in provinces which have a significant Thai Chinese influence the city pillar is housed in a building which resembles a Chinese temple, like for example in Songkhla or Samut Prakan. In Chiang Rai the city pillar is not housed in a shrine, but since 1988 placed in an open place inside Wat Phra That Doi Chom Thong.

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City pillar shrines

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