Nakhon Si Thammarat province

Nakhon Si Thammarat is the Thai form of Sanskrit Nagara Sri Dharmaraja, meaning 'City of the Sacred Dharma King'. The name is sometimes abbreviated to Nakhon Si (Thai: ยครศรีฯ). The province is also colloquially called Mueang Khon (Thai: เมืองคอน) and its people Khon Khon (Thai: คนคอน).

The province is on the Gulf of Thailand on the east side of the Malay Peninsula. The terrain is mostly rugged hilly forest. The province is home to south Thailand's highest peak, Khao Luang, at 1,835 metres (6,000 ft).The total forest area is 1,820 km² (700 sq mi) or 18.4 percent of provincial area.[6]

Nakhon Si Thammarat City Pillar Shrine

Nakhon Si Thammarat is one of the oldest cities in Thailand with a rich history. The earliest settlement in the vicinity of the city was Tha Rua, about ten kilometers south of the modern city, where ceramics from the Song dynasty were found dated to the twelfth century. In ancient times, Nakhon Si Thammarat was under the rule of the Srivijaya, the king of Srivijaya had established a foothold on the Malay Peninsula at Ligor" by 775, where he "built various edifices, including a sanctuary dedicated to the Buddha and to the Bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani.

The Chronicles of Nakhon Si Thammarat, composed in the seventeenth century, attributed the foundation of current city of Nakhon Si Thammarat to King Sri Thammasok in the thirteenth century. An inscription found at Chaiya stated that King Sri Thammasok ruled Tambralinga in 1231. King Sri Thammasok constructed Wat Phra Mahathat and introduced Singhalese Theravada Buddhism. The Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom held authorities over "twelve cities" that extended from Chumphon to the north and Pahang to the south. The Ramkamhaeng Stele of Sukhothai first mentioned "Nakhon Si Thammarat" in 1292, which means "The City of King Sri Thammasok" or "The City of the Virtuous king". The Nakhon Si Thammarat kingdom ended and the city perished in the fourteenth century. The ruler of Phetchaburi known as Phra Phanom Thale sent his son Phra Phanom Wang to re-establish the city and rule. Nakhon Si Thammarat then came under the influence of Central Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya under the mandala system.

Forested peat swamp forests cover more than 9,900 hectares on the borders of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, and Songkhla provinces. About 800 hectares of the peat swamp were destroyed by 88 fires in the first half of 2019. The Royal Forest Department says that most of the fires in the Khuan Khreng peat swamp forest were man-made. Criminals clear the forest for the illegal expansion of rubber and oil palm plantations. Honey collectors and fishermen were also complicit as they burn grass to catch fish or to collect wild honey. Khuan Khreng peat swamp was hit by drought in what is normally the rainy season making it susceptible to arson. The forest is surrounded by oil palm plantations and surface water in the forest has been drained out to feed the plantations.[9]

The province is home to Khao Luang National Park and Hat Khanom–Mu Ko Thale Tai National Park.

Tourism has become a first-tier tourist province, as defined by the central government, joining 22 other first-tier provinces. In 2019, it is projected to receive four million tourists—80% of them domestic—largely attracted by religious sites. They contributed more than 11 billion baht to the provincial economy. The Airports Department plans to expand Nakhon Si Thammarat airport runways and terminal by 2022 to deal with an anticipated increase in international flights to support foreign visitor arrivals. The province has 320 hotels with 8,800 rooms, up from 310 hotels and 7,000 rooms in 2018.[10]

The provincial seal shows the Phra Baromathat chedi of Wat Phra Mahathat Voramahavihan, one of the most important historical sites in southern Thailand. According to the city chronicle it was already built in 311, but archaeology dates it to the 13th century. The chedi was built by the ruler of Malay Buddha Kingdom of Tambralinga, named Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja of The Patama Vamsa (Lotus Dynasty). The chedi is surrounded by the animals of the Chinese zodiac in the seal. The twelve animals represent the twelve Naksat cities or city-states which were tributary to the Nakhon Si Thammarat kingdom: the Rat of Saiburi; the Ox of Pattani; the Tiger of Kelantan; the Rabbit of Pahang (actually a city in Pahang which is said to be submerged by a lake now); the Dragon of Kedah; the Snake of Phatthalung; the Horse of Trang; the Goat of Chumphon; the Monkey of Bantaysamer (might be Chaiya, or a town in Krabi province); the Rooster of Sa-ulau (unidentified city, might be Songkhla, Kanchanadit or Pla Tha); the Dog of Takua Pa and a Pig of Kraburi.[11]

The provincial flower is the Golden Shower Tree (Cassia fistula), and the provincial tree is Millettia atropurpurea.[12]

The provincial slogan is เมืองประวัติศาสตร์ พระธาตุทองคำ ชื่นฉ่ำธรรมชาติ แร่ธาตุอุดม เครื่องถมสามกษัตริย์ มากวัดมากศิลป์ ครบสิ้นกุ้งปู, which translates to "A historical town, the golden Phra That, plentiful minerals, three-metal nielloware, numerous temples, abundant shellfish."[12]

Nakhon Si Thammarat is served by Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport and the Nakhon Si Thammarat Railway Station.

Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital is the main hospital of the province, operated by the Ministry of Public Health.

Health	Education	Employment	Income
23	24	65	33
Housing	Family	Transport	Participation
46	61	39	66
Province Nakhon Si Thammarat, with an HAI 2017 value of 0.5687 is "somewhat low", occupies place 55 in the ranking.

Nakhon Si Thammarat scored 55 ("somewhat low") on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human achievement index (HAI).[4]

Map with provinces and HAI 2017 rankings

• Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nakhon Si Thammarat Province.

• Nakhon Si Thammarat travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Website of province (Thai)
• Nakhon Si Thammarat provincial map, coat of arms and postal stamp
• Everything in Nakhon Si Thammarat
• Tambralinga