Physical Characteristics and Cultural Landscape Changing of Khao Srivijaya Monuments, Surat Thani Province

Abstract

        Khao Srivijaya Monuments, Phunphin District, Surat Thani Province is the valued historic and religioned place. This Archaeological site was existed around 11 to 13 Buddhist Century. The Fine Arts Department has announced this place to register as a historic site on 27 September 1936 and started to investigate and Archaeological excavation in 1998. It was found that this place on the Srivijaya hilltop was related to Hindu Brahminism and Buddhism. Recently, the Find Arts Department has been investigated this place around 80% and still continued to renovate this place in advance. This research aims to study the physical characteristics and cultural landscape changing of Khao Srivijaya Monuments and neighbor are in order to keep the information for landscape conservation and development guidelines of Khao Srivijaya Monuments in advance.
            This research was operated by studying information from 1) Aerial photo map in order to study the landscape changing around Khao Srivijaya 2) Historical and Archaeological documents that related to Khao Srivijaya 3) investigate the area in order to analyze about the viewpoint, accessing, and the changing of area using 4) interview related local people including Archaeologists at the Fine Arts Office 12, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Wat Khao Srivijaya abbot, and elder in the community, and then use these obtained information to analyze and conclude as a physical and potential problems of this area that affect to the changing of cultural landscape.
            From the obtained information, it can be concluded that there are several physical problem at Khao Srivijaya including 1) Flooding in the foothills plain 2) Obscuring Khao Srivijaya 3) Entrance and road to access each importance place were narrow and lack of maintenance 4) agricultural area near to Phunphin river was unappropriated according to geographical characteristics and 5) The historical site is unable to achieve its meaning. The potential area of Khao Srivijaya is that the view on the hilltop which can see wide landscape and the uniqueness of the area that is the historic site on the hilltop of a few single hills in the southern of Thailand.