Phraya Phichai Dap Hak Memorial

The bronze statue of Phraya Phichai Dap Hak — Uttaradit’s most recognisable landmark — stands at the entrance to the Uttaradit Provincial Hall in the centre of town. Cast in a combat stance with one intact sword and one broken blade, it honours the 18th-century general who held the town against a Burmese advance in 1773 and fought on after one of his swords snapped. King Bhumibol Adulyadej unveiled the monument on 20 February 1969.

Phraya Phichai was born in Phichai district, Uttaradit, in 1741, under the birth name Choi. He trained in Muay Thai from boyhood and later took the name Thong Di. After the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 he joined Phraya Taksin’s campaign to reunify the kingdom and rose to become one of Taksin’s senior generals. At the 1773 defence of Phichai he engaged a Burmese force at Wat Aka, slipped during close combat and broke one blade as he steadied himself — then kept fighting with one whole sword and one broken one, driving the attackers back. When King Taksin was deposed in 1782, Phraya Phichai refused a pardon from the incoming dynasty out of loyalty to his king and was executed.

Two small museums sit beside the monument: one documents his life and reconstructs the 1773 battle, the other displays a 557.8 kg Nam Phi iron sword — made from ore found only in Uttaradit — with a rosewood and mother-of-pearl scabbard. Both are free to enter.

Each January the Phraya Phichai Dap Hak and Red Cross Fair (usually 7–16 January) combines a worship ceremony with traditional performances and craft stalls.

Insider Tip: The Phraya Phichai Dap Hak Museum a short walk away covers the same story in more depth, with weapons, armour and battle dioramas — worth pairing with the monument rather than treating as a separate trip.

Getting there

The monument stands in the open in front of the Provincial Hall, free to visit around the clock, with parking behind the compound. For anyone passing through Uttaradit, it is an easy first stop. View on Google Maps.