Hot Spot

SWINGING SCENE Its array of ancient temples and centuries-old, wooden storefronts would be enough to distinguish Phetchaburi, 100 miles south of Bangkok, from other road stops on the way to Hua Hin. Yet it was the royal architecture at Khao Wang, or Palace Hill, that in its heyday drew the rich and famous to this faded gem of a trading port, whose name means "Diamond City."

The name baffles shopkeepers and historians alike. After all, it was salt mined from the flats that put Phetchaburi on the map. But it was King Rama IV who ensured Phetchaburi's enduring legacy back in 1860—at least to fans of grand kitsch. On a hilltop west of town, the King constructed a dazzling summer estate: palaces and stables, with enough guesthouses to shelter the entire royal court. The design was meant to blend the best of East and West, but the result was an eclectic hodgepodge of Greek columns, Thai teak, Chinese tile roofs and a rounded Italian observatory, all set in an impeccably-landscaped English-style garden.

Crumbling and almost reclaimed by the forest, the estate is now a main attraction. A plague of monkeys swarms the entrance, aggressively eager for handouts, while a cable car with unpredictable running hours offers splendid views from a lookout just below the cupcake-shaped Italian observatory.

Monkeys may be your only company at Khao Wang. Phetchaburi does not have the grand hotels and great beaches that traditionally attract tourists. Instead, its charm lies in the streets little changed since the 1800s, and a collection of temples that rank among Thailand's most diverse. Murals at Wat Ko Kaeo Sutharam show a Westerner (an early Jesuit missionary most likely) attending an ancient Buddhist ceremony. That may be the only Western face you see in Phetchaburi these days. Which is strange, considering that in its heyday, the hilltop palace complex was the hip place to swing in old Siam. Now, only the monkeys do.