Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

[Braveheart]

Nakhon Si Thammarat (often in short Nakhon, Thai: นครศรีธรรมราช) is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand, at the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand.

 

The name of the province derives from its Pali-Sanskrit name Nagara Sri Dhammaraja (City of the Sacred Dharma King), which in Thai pronunciation becames Nakhon Si Thammarat.

 

The province is located on the shore of the Gulf of Thailand on the east side of the Malay Peninsula. The terrain is mostly rugged hilly forest area. It contains the highest elevation of southern Thailand, the Khao Luang with 1,835 m, now protected in the Khao Luang national park.

 

The area around Nakhon Si Thammarat was part (according to some scholars even the centre) of the Srivijaya kingdom from the 3rd century until king Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai occupied it and added it to his kingdom. With the fall of Sukhothai it fell it its successor, the Ayutthaya kingdom. Nakhon became a province in 1932.

 

The provincial seal shows the Phra Baromathat Chedi of the 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 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 mouse 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); a large snake of Kedah; a small snake of Phatthalung; a horse of Trang; a goat of Chumphon; a monkey of Bantaysamer (might be Chaiya, or a town in Krabi Province); a cock of Sa-ulau (unidentified city, might be Songkhla, Kanchanadit or Pla Tha); a dog of Takua Pa and a pig of Kraburi.

 

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

 

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.

 

Nakhon Si Thammarat is subdivided into 21 districts (Amphoe) and 2 minor districts (King Amphoe). The districts are further subdivided into 165 communes (tambon) and 1428 villages (muban).

 

Extracted from Wikipedia: Nakhon Si Thammarat Province