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'Samut Prakan' (Thai: ) is one of the central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are in the west and north Bangkok and Chachoengsao to the east.
Suvarnabhumi Airport (or also called '(New) Bangkok International Airport') is located in the Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan province.

Contents

History

Geography

Places

Symbols

Administrative divisions

External links

History

The province was created during the Ayutthaya period, with its administrative center located at Prapadaeng. It was the sea port of Siam, and was secured with forts, town moats and town-walls. King Rama II starting the building of the new center at Samut Prakan in 1819, after his predecessor King Taksin had disbanded the town fortification. Altogether six forts were built on both sides of the Chao Phraya river, and on an island in the river the pagoda Phra Samut Chedi was erected. Of the original six forts only two still exist today, Phi Sua Samut and Phra Chulachomklao.
By the way, the word ''samut'' means sea and ''prakan'' means fortress.

Geography

Samut Prakan is located at the mouth of the Chao Phraya river to the Gulf of Thailand. Thus the province is also sometimes called ''Pak Nam'' (''ปากน้ำ''), the Thai word for the mouth of a river. The part of the province located on the western side of the river consist mostly of rice and prawn fields as well as mangrove forests, while the east part is the urban center - including industrial factories. It is part of the Bangkok metropolis, the urbanization on both sides of the provincial boundary is identical. The province has a coastline of approximately 47.2 kilometer.

Places

★ Bang Pu Nature Reserve, about 12 km east of the town center, has a big bird population. Especially during the winter the Sakdi pier at Bang Pu is very popular for Thai people feeding the wintering seagulls. The park is run jointly by the Royal Thai Army and the Thai WWF, and was officially established at the 72nd birthday of Queen Sirikit in 2004.

★ The HTMS Maeklong, a former Royal Thai Navy ship is moored in concrete at Chulachomklao Fort at the mouth of the Chao Phraya in Amphoe Phra Samut Chedi.

★ Two major tourist attractions of the province are located in Amphoe Mueang Samut Prakan, the capital district: Mueang Boran or Ancient City, a park that features downscaled replicas of all major historical buildings of Thailand; and the Crocodile Farm.

★ Besides being the home of Suvarnabhumi Airport, Amphoe Bang Phli is famous for the annual Lotus Flower (Rap Bua) festival, which usually takes place on the full moon in October.

Symbols

Seal of the province

The provincial seal shows the temple Phra Samut Chedi, the most important site of Buddhist worship in the province.Provincial tree is ''Thespesia populnea ''.

Administrative divisions

The province is subdivided into 5 districts (''Amphoe'') and one minor districts (''King Amphoe''). The districts are further subdivided into 50 communes (''tambon'') and 396 villages (''muban''). There are one city (''thesaban nakhon''), two towns (''thesaban mueang'') and 13 townships (''thesaban tambon''). For the national elections the province is divided into 7 voting districts.

''Amphoe''		''King Amphoe''
#Mueang Samut Prakan#Bang Bo#Bang Phli	Phra Pradaeng Phra Samut Chedi	Bang Sao Thong

External links

★ Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand

★ paknam.com - created by Sriwittayapaknam School

★ Official site of the province (Thai only)

★ Samut Prakan provincial map, coat of arms and postal stamp