Kamphaeng Phet (Province)
Kamphaeng Phet | |
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กำแพงเพชร | |
statistics | |
Capital: | Kamphaeng Phet |
Telephone code: | 055 |
Surface: |
8,607.5 km² 22. |
Residents: |
726,846 (2009) 35. |
Population density : | 74 E / km² 56. |
ISO 3166-2 : | |
Governor : | |
map | |
Kamphaeng Phet ( Thai : กำแพงเพชร , [kampʰɛŋ PET] ) is a province ( Changwat ) in the lower northern region of Thailand . The capital of Kamphaeng Phet Province is also called Kamphaeng Phet .
etymology
The name is made up of กำแพง ( Kamphaeng , "wall") and เพชร ( Phet , "diamond"; from Sanskrit वज्र , vájra , the name of the thunderbolt of the god Indra ). It expresses the wish that the walls of Kamphaeng Phet Fortress, which in the past was an outpost on the border with Pegu (a forerunner of today's Burma ), should be as hard as diamond.
The seal of the province accordingly shows part of the historic city wall set with diamonds.
geography
The east of the province is dominated by the Mae Nam Ping (Ping River) plain . In the west rise the foothills of the rear Indian mountains, which are extensively covered with forest.
The land extends in the upper valley of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya ( Chao Phraya River ), where alluvial deposits are formed by the ping and form a delta that runs towards Mae Nam Yom ( Yom River ) and Mae Nam Nan ( Nan River ) leads. Marshes and marshland are mostly found on the eastern bank of the Ping, from Lan Krabue County to Khanu Woralaksaburi County . On the east bank of the Ping there is a narrow plain, which is crossed by streams that come from the mountains, etc. a. the Khlong Suan Mak and the Khlong Khlung. The area around the flowing waters is fringed by fertile land.
Neighboring provinces: | |
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north | Sukhothai and Phitsanulok |
east | Phichit |
south | Nakhon Sawan |
west | Tak |
Important cities
Important rivers
climate
The climate is tropical - monsoonal . 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. On 121 rainy days fell 1169.3 mm of precipitation in the same year .
population
The population consists mainly of Thai people, a small proportion of the hill tribes live in the western mountains. In addition, there are also descendants of the Lao Khrang laborers who were abducted by Siamese from Laos (the total number in Thailand is 53,000).
Economy and Importance
The main economic factor is agriculture and especially rice cultivation . About 50% of the land in the province is agricultural land, 22% is woodland. The best-known product of the province, however, is the banana , especially the Kluai Khai variety ("egg banana"), a small, round and aromatic-sweet cultivar of the Musa acuminata species . Banana festivals are held every year to celebrate the harvest with a colorful festival. The "Center for the Collection of Banana Varieties" is located in Kamphaeng Phet, which has cultivated plants of various types of bananas. In addition to rice , sugar cane , cassava , soybean , maize , mung beans and cotton grown. A nationally known brand of herbal jelly (chao kuai) is produced in Kamphaeng Phet.
Poultry, pigs and cattle are part of the province's agricultural production. Fish such as carp , catfish and tugs are also caught in the numerous waters .
Many valuable minerals can be found in Kamphaeng Phet. In fact, the province's annual mineral income ranks second, largely due to the crude oil mining in Lan Krabue and the marble mining in Phran Kratai County .
In 2011, the "Gross Provincial Product" (was GDP ) of the province 88.786 billion baht , equivalent to a per capita economic output of 122,781 baht. The official minimum wage in the province has been 234 baht per day (around € 5) since April 1, 2012.
Data
The table below shows the share of the economic sectors in the gross provincial product in percent:
Industry | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
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Agriculture | 17.7 | 18.4 | 22.7 | 21.7 |
Mining, open pit mining | 21.2 | 21.3 | 21.5 | 20.6 |
Industry | 35.0 | 34.5 | 30.5 | 30.3 |
Other | 26.1 | 25.8 | 25.3 | 25.4 |
The industry that made the biggest contribution to the province's economic output in 2011 was manufacturing with 25.029 billion baht, followed by mining and quarrying with 21.461 billion baht and agriculture with 18.817 billion baht.
Land use
The following land use is documented for the province:
- Forest area: 1,266,892 Rai (2,027.0 km²), 23.5% of the total area
- Agricultural area: 2,673,706 Rai (4,277.9 km²), 49.7% of the total area
- Unclassified area: 1,439,083 rai (2,302.6 km²), 26.8% of the total area
history
The area around the provincial capital Kamphaeng Phet on the upper reaches of the Maenam Ping has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Polished stone tools, clay jugs and human remains were found in Khao Kalon, Amphoe Khanu Woralaksaburi . Elsewhere, near Ban Khlong Mueang, Amphoe Kosamphi Nakhon , stone axes, spindle whorls and metal slag have been excavated. From here one has easy access to the plain of the Chao Phraya, so that trade could be carried out with the hill tribes in the mountains of the west and north. In the 11th century , a regent from the north settled here who had to flee from the attacking Burmese .
Kamphaeng Phet was an important area during the Sukhothai and later in the Ayutthaya period . It has repeatedly served as a deployment area and western buffer zone for the centuries-long battles against the Burmese.
The provincial capital was originally called Cha Kang Rao, a name of the Mon , which means something like "place on the river where trade and markets are carried out". Later the Thai name Nakhon Chum was adopted. The city of Kamphaeng Phet then emerged on the other side of the Ping River.
Later Kamphaeng Phet was part of the Nakhon Sawan region. Under King Prajadhipok (Rama VII.) Kamphaeng Phet was spun off together with Phichit, Chai Nat, Tak and other provinces and made into an independent province.
See also: History of Thailand and corresponding entry in Kamphaeng Phet
Attractions
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Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park - large, shady park with ruins of many temples from the Sukhothai period, including:
- Wat Phra Borommathat - in Mueang Nakhon Chum (ancient city on the west bank of the Ping); a Buddhist temple complex ( wat ) in Burmese style with beautiful bronze statues of the Buddha from the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya periods.
- Marble deposit - in the Phran Kratai district (in operation since 1983)
- Phra Ruang hot spring - hot water spring with a small geyser , approx. 25 km from the provincial capital.
- Mo Sua Top - located in Amphoe Kosamphi Makhon, prehistoric excavations of a settlement
- Khao Golon - Located in Amphoe Khanu Woralaksaburi, more than 2500 years old excavations of ceramics and later Buddha statues
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National parks and nature reserves:
- Mae Wong National Park - about 80 km east of Kamphaeng Phet; lies partly in Kamphaeng Phet Province, partly in Nakhon Sawan Province ; Established since 1987 with a total area of 894 km².
- Khlong Lan National Park - 42 km west of Kamphaeng Phet with Yao , Hmong and Karen villages
- Khlong Wang Chao National Park
- Khao Son Wildlife Park - Khao Sanam Phriang
Symbols
The seal shows a wall covered with diamonds, so it speaks for the name of the province. 'Kamphaeng Phet' means something like "wall of diamonds" or in the figurative sense "insurmountable fortress".
The local tree is the gerber acacia ( Acadia catechu ). The local bloom is the so-called horse meat wood (Bullet Wood, Mimusops eleugi ).
The motto of Kamphaeng Phet Province is:
- The land of Phra Khruang, the miniatures of Buddha images ,
- The city of bravery and Silalang, red stones and sweet egg- bananas ,
- The province of the Khlong Lan waterfall,
- The crude oil source is called Lan Krabue.
Administrative units
Provincial Administration
Kamphaeng Phet Province is divided into 11 Amphoe ('districts' or 'counties'). These are further divided into 78 tambon ('subdistricts' or 'parishes') and 944 muban ('villages').
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Local administration
A provincial administrative organization ( บริหาร ส่วน จังหวัด , อบ จ for short , Ongkan Borihan suan Changwat ; English Provincial Administrative Organization , PAO) exists for the entire area of the province .
The province also has 23 thesaban ('municipalities') - including three "cities" and 20 "small towns" - and 66 tambon administrative organizations.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Gross Provincial Product at Current Market Prices: Northern Provinces, National Economic and Social Development Board, 2011.
- ↑ a b Thailand in Figures (2012), p. 225.
- ↑ "Industry" includes: Manufacturing; Electricity, gas and water supply; Construction
- ^ "Others" include: Wholesale and retail trade; Hotels and restaurants; Transport, storage and communication; Real estate; Education; Health and social work, ...
- ^ Fine Arts Department (2005), p. 75
literature
- Fine Arts Department : Guide to Kamphaeng Phet Historical Park . 2. A. Bangkok 2005, ISBN 974-417-744-6 .
- Thailand in Figures, Vol.II: Region and Province . 16th edition 2012-2013, Alpha Research Co., Ltd., Nonthaburi, Thailand 2012, ISBN 978-616-7256-12-6
Web links
- Provincial Administration website (in Thai)
- Provincial Tourist Attractions - Tourism Authority of Thailand TAT website
Coordinates: 16 ° 33 ' N , 99 ° 31' E