Ban Thanon Noi Ancient Kiln Site

Ban Thanon Noi is one of eight known ancient kiln sites scattered around Ban Kruat district in Buriram, part of a Khmer-period pottery industry that once numbered over 200 kilns across Ban Kruat and neighbouring Lahan Sai district. The Fine Arts Department has excavated kilns in the area — sites locally known as Tao Suay and Tao Nai Chian among them — that produced glazed stoneware roughly 700 to 1,400 years old, predominantly brown-glazed with some green-glazed pieces, traded along routes tied to the wider Angkorian world.

What you’ll actually find on site is modest: excavated kiln foundations and structures, exposed for viewing rather than reconstructed into a polished visitor attraction. It’s a place for people specifically interested in the region’s ceramic history rather than a standalone day out — there’s no visitor centre or major signage program at the excavation itself. The bulk of the actual pottery finds — fired vessels, shards, and kiln furniture recovered from digs across the district — are held and displayed at the Ban Kruat Art Hall, on the Ban Kruat district office grounds, rather than at the excavation site itself.

The setting is rural farmland typical of this part of Buriram, well off the tourist route that runs through Phanom Rung and Prasat Hin Mueang Tam closer to Nang Rong. Treat a visit here as an add-on for anyone already interested in the region’s Khmer-era archaeology, not a first-stop attraction.

Insider Tip: Visit the Ban Kruat Art Hall first if you want context — seeing the actual pottery and kiln furniture before walking the excavated site makes the kiln structures easier to read.

Watch out: This isn’t a staffed, ticketed attraction — there’s minimal on-site interpretation, so it rewards visitors who’ve read up beforehand more than casual passers-by.

If Khmer-era archaeology is the draw, Phanom Rung Historical Park and Prasat Hin Mueang Tam are the far larger, more developed sites from the same era elsewhere in Buriram province.