Prachuap Khiri Khan province

Prachuap Khiri Khan (Thai ประจวบคีรีขันธ์) is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Phetchaburi[?] in the north and Chumphon in the south. To the west it borders Myanmar.

Geography

The district is located on the Isthmus of Kra, the narrow landbridge connecting the Malay Peninsula with mainland Asia. The province contains the narrowest part of Thailand, which just south of the capital is just 13 kilometers from the coast of the Gulf of Thailand to the border with Myanmar.

The long coast to the Gulf of Thailand has many sandy beaches, the most famous one being at Hua Hin[?], which has been a popular resort since King Prajadhipok[?] (Rama VII) built a summer palace there. From the coast the land quickly rises into the mountain chain which forms the border to Myanmar, the highest elevation in the province being the 1494-meter-high Khao Luang.

The Khao Som Roi Yot National Park was established in 1966 to protect Thailand's largest freshwater marshes, but also contains some mangrove woods and mudflats.

History The city of Prachuap Khiri Khan was reconstructed in 1845, after it was abandoned during the fall of the Ayutthaya kingdom in 1767.

In 1868 King Mongkut invited several guests to watch the solar eclipse on September 18. Being fond of science he predicted the event by himself, but the chosen observation point was the marshes near Som Roi Yot where he contracted malaria, of which he died two weeks later.

During World War II Japanese troops occupied Thailand. On December 8, 1941 they first landed near the city of Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Symbols

Administrative divisions

External links

• Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand (http://www.tat.or.th/province/central/pachuap/index.htm)
• Golden Jubilee Network province guide (http://kanchanapisek.or.th/cgi-bin/kp8/oncc/province.cgi?prov=c12)