The Sukhothai Historical Park encompasses the ancient remnants of the city of Sukhothai, the administrative center of the Sukhothai Kingdom, which held power in the lower northern region of Thailand during the 13th to 14th centuries. It is located in the area of Old Town (municipality of Old Town) in Sukhothai District, approximately 12 kilometers west of present-day Sukhothai (Sukhothai Thani municipality), accessible via Highway 12 (Road Jirat Witthaya Thong). The layout of Sukhothai is rectangular, measuring about 2 kilometers in length and 1.6 kilometers in width, with city gates located at the center of each side of the walls. Inside, there remain traces of 26 royal palaces and temples, the largest of which is Wat Mahathat. This park has been restored by the Fine Arts Department with assistance from UNESCO and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, who can explore the area on foot or by bike. The Sukhothai Historical Park was first declared a protected area in the Royal Thai Government Gazette, Volume 92, Issue 112, on August 2, 1961. Subsequently, in 1976, a project to restore the park was approved, and it officially opened in July 1988. On December 12, 1991, UNESCO designated this park a World Heritage Site, in conjunction with the Historical Parks of Kamphaeng Phet and Si Satchanalai, under the title "Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Towns."