Si Satchanalai, which literally means "City of good people", was founded in 1250 as the second center of the Sukhothai Kingdom and as a residence of the crown prince in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Under the reign of Sri Indraditya, in 1250 the new town was built in the western area of Chaliang and named Si Satchanalai.

[1]: 221 The stele of Ram Khamhaeng states a stupa was erected in the center of Si Satchanalai, that took six years to build.

In 1451, Tilokarat of Chiangmai annexed Si Satchanalai to his Lanna Kingdom and renamed the city to Chiangcheun (Thai: เชียงชื่น).

In 1474, Trailokkanat of Ayutthaya started the Ayutthaya-Lanna War and recaptured the city and renamed it Sawankhalok (Thai: สวรรคโลก).

During the reign of Ramathibodi II, the story of war campaigns between Tilokarat and Trailokkanat on Si Satchanalai inspired an unknown poet to write Lilit Yuan Phai (Thai: ลิลิตยวนพ่าย), which is considered one of the best poems of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

Si Satchanalai became the thriving center of porcelain production for the Ayutthayan court to export to overseas countries such as Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

In 1907 Vajiravudh as a crown prince, made a two-month archaeological field trip to Nakhon Sawan, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai, Si Satchanalai, Uttaradit and Pitsanulok.

The work has been used as structure by later archaeologists and historians including Damrong Rajanubhab, the founder of the modern Thai education system and George Coedès, a 20th-century scholar of southeast Asian archaeology and history.

As part of this trip Vajiravudh found beautiful relics of Buddha image's head, a hand and feet in Si Satchanalai and brought them back to Bangkok.

Vajiravudh wrote in his Phra Ruang City Journey that a local claimed that the temple was once called Wat Kalayanimit and was built by a daughter of Lithai.

Pattern of Stupas at Wat Chedi Chet Thaeo are influenced by various artistic styles such as Sri Lanka, Lanna and Bagan stupa which has unique square tower base with a spherical top and arched hall façade stucco for standing Buddha image in beautiful Sukhothai style.

Wat Chang Lom (Thai: วัดช้างล้อม) was built in 1286 by order of Ramkhamhaeng after the discovery of a Buddha relic on the site.

The main structure of the temple is a two-tiered square base round the Sri Lanka-style laterite stupa.

Wat Khok Singkharam (Thai: วัดโคกสิงคาราม) is an ancient temple built during late Sukhothai to early Ayutthaya.

There is a large laterite stupa and remains of a seven-roomed vihara, in the typical style of Sukhothai and Lanna architecture, in the center of the compound.

The Thuriang Kilns (Thai: เตาทุเรียง) are ruins of the old celadon factory, located about 5 km north of the old town of Si Satchanalai.

A group of Thai-Australian archaeologists from University of Adelaide found that the ceramic wares in Si Satchanalai had been produced more than a millennium before the Sukhothai Kingdom contradicting the general view that the Chinese introduced production in the 13th century.