Kamphaeng Phet Province

Kamphaeng Phet ( Thai: กำแพงเพชร ) is a province ( Changwat ) in the northern region of Thailand. The capital of the province of Kamphaeng Phet Kamphaeng Phet is also called.

  • 4.1 Data
  • 4.2 Land Use

Etymology

The name comes from กำแพง ( Kamphaeng, "wall" ) and เพชร ( Phet, " diamond ", from Sanskrit वज्र, Vajra, the name of the thunderbolt of God Indra ) together. This desire is expressed, the walls of the fortress Kamphaeng Phet, which was during the Sukhothai era, an outpost on the border of Pegu ( a forerunner of today's Burma), may be hard as diamond.

The seal of the province shows accordingly a part of the historic city walls studded with diamonds.

Geography

The east of the province is dominated by the level of the Maenam Ping ( Ping River ). In the west the foothills of the mountain range behind India, which are extensively covered with forests rise.

The land extends in the upper Chao Phraya valley where alluvial deposits are formed by the ping, which form a delta, which leads towards Yom and Nan. Swamps and marshes are found mostly on the east bank of the Ping, the district Lan Krabue to the district Khanu Woralaksaburi. On the east bank of the Ping extends a narrow plane, which is crossed by streams coming from the mountains, including the Khlong Suan Mak and Khlong Khlung. The area around the flowing body of water is surrounded by fertile land.

Major cities

  • Phran Kratai

Important rivers

Maenam Ping

Climate

The climate is tropical and monsunal. The average temperature is 27.1 ° C. The maximum temperature in 2009 was 40.1 ° C, the lowest temperature was measured at 11.6 ° C. At 121 days of rain fell in the same year 1169.3 mm of precipitation.

Population

The population consists mainly of Thai, a small portion of the hill tribes living in the western mountains. In addition, however resettlement of descendants of bonded laborers abducted from Siamese Laos, the Lao khrang (the total number in Thailand is 53,000 ).

Economic importance and

Economic mainstay is agriculture, and especially rice cultivation. Approximately 50 % of land in the province is agriculturally used land, 22 % is forest land. However, the most famous product of the province is the banana, especially the variety Kluai Khai ( "egg banana" ), a small, round and sweet and aromatic cultivar Musa acuminata of the kind. Each year, Banana festivals to celebrate the harvest festival with a colorful. Besides rice, sugar cane, cassava, soybean, maize, mung beans and cotton are grown.

Poultry, pigs and cattle are part of industrial production in the province. In addition, in the many waters also fish are caught, like carp, catfish, and the tractor.

Many valuable minerals are found in Kamphaeng Phet. In fact, is the annual income of the province of minerals in second place, especially because of the crude oil recovery in Lan Krabue and mining of marble in the district Phran Kratai.

In 2009, the "Gross Provincial Product" was (gross domestic product ) of the province 76 386 million baht. The official minimum wage in the province since April 1, 2012 is 234 baht per day ( about 5 € ).

Data

Land use

For the province, the following land use is documented:

  • Forest area: 1,266,892 Rai ( 2027.0 km ²), 23.5 % of the total
  • The utilized agricultural area: 2,673,706 Rai ( 4277.9 km ²), 49.7 % of the total
  • Not classified area: 1,439,083 Rai ( 2302.6 km ²), 26.8 % of the total

History

The area around the provincial capital of Kamphaeng Phet at the headwaters of Maenam Ping has been inhabited since prehistoric times. So they found polished stone tools, pottery jars and human remains in Khao Kalon, Amphoe Khanu Woralaksaburi. Elsewhere in Ban Khlong Muang, Amphoe Nakhon Kosamphi, stone axes, spindle whorls and metal slag were excavated. From here you have easy access to the level of the Chao Phraya river, so that trade with the hill tribes in the mountains of the West and the North could be driven. In the 11th century, here is a Regent from the north settled, who had to flee from invading Burmese.

Kamphaeng Phet was during the Sukhothai - and even later in the Ayutthaya period - a very important area. They also repeatedly served as a staging area and western buffer zone for the centuries-long struggle against the Burmese.

The provincial capital was originally named Cha Kang Rao, a name of the Sun, which means something like " place on the river, are the subject of trade and markets." Later, the Thai name Nakhon Chum was adopted. The city of Kamphaeng Phet was then on the other side of the Ping River.

Later Kamphaeng Phet was part of Nakhon Sawan region. Under King Prajadhipok (Rama VII ) Kamphaeng Phet was spun off along with Phichit, Chainat, Tak and other provinces and made ​​into an independent province.

See also: History of Thailand and the appropriate entry in Kamphaeng Phet

Attractions

  • Historical Park Kamphaeng Phet - large shady park with ruins of many temples from the Sukhothai period, it also: Wat Phra Borom That - in Mueang Nakhon Chum ( ancient city on the west bank of the Ping ); a Buddhist temple ( Wat ) in Burmese style with beautiful bronze statues of the Buddha from the Sukhothai and the Ayutthaya period.
  • Mae Wong National Park - 80 km east of Kamphaeng Phet; lies partly in the province of Kamphaeng Phet, partly in the province of Nakhon Sawan; established since 1987 with a total area of 894 km ².
  • Khlong Lan National Park - 42 km west of Kamphaeng Phet with villages of the Yao, Hmong and Karen
  • National Park Khlong Wang Chao
  • Wildlife Park Khao Son - Khao Sanam Phriang

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows a wall of diamonds, representing the name of the city. Kamphaeng Phet means as much as the wall of diamonds or Insurmountable fortress.

The local tree is the Gerber - acacia ( Acadia catechu ). The local flower is the so-called horse-meat - wood ( Bullet Wood, Mimusops eleugi ).

The motto of the province of Kamphaeng Phet is:

Administrative units

The Kamphaeng Phet province is divided into 11 districts ( Amphoe ). The Amphoe are further subdivided into 78 subdistricts (tambon ) and 944 villages ( Muban ).

In the province there is a city ( เทศบาล เมือง - thesaban Mueang ): Kamphaeng Phet ( เทศบาล เมือง กำแพงเพชร ), and 20 small towns ( เทศบาล ตำบล - thesaban tambon).

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