Nakhon Ratchasima (Thai: นครราชสีมา, pronounced[ná(ʔ).kʰɔ̄ːnrâːt.t͡ɕʰā.sǐː.māː]) is the capital of Nakhon Ratchasima province and the third largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan (Northeast Thailand), known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (โคราช, pronounced[kʰōː.râːt]), a shortened form of its name.
Archaeological evidence suggests that in Sung Noen District 32 km west of present-day Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) there were two ancient towns called Sema ("Bai sema" (ใบเสมา) are notable artifacts of the Korat plateau)[citation needed] and Khorakapura. (Palipúra becomes Sanskritpuri, hence Thai (buri), all connoting the same as Thai mueang: "city with defensive wall".) N The latter name was shortened to Nakhon Raj. (Nakhon (นคร) derives from Sanskritnagara (नगर), "city"; Raj (ราช), from Sanskrit Raj, "sovereign.") The present city name is a portmanteau of Nakhon Raj and Sema.
The city is commonly known as "Korat" (Thai: โคราช), which is a short version of the ancient Khmer name "ankor raj".
History
Ya Mo Entrance Gate at the junction of Ratchadamnoen Rd and Hwy 224
Prior to the 14th century, the area of Nakhon Ratchasima was under Khmer empiresuzerainty and known in Khmer as Angkor raj, Nokor Reach Seyma, or Nokor Reach Borei, and Koreach. Phimai, to the north, was probably more important.
King Narai of Ayutthaya in the 17th century, ordered a new city built on the site to serve as a stronghold on Ayutthaya's northeastern frontier. Nakhon Ratchasima was thereafter mentioned in Siamese chronicles and legal documents as a "second-class" city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. A royal governor ruled the city in a hereditary position.
After the final phase of the Ayutthaya kingdom ended with its complete destruction by the Burmese in 1767, a son of King Boromakot attempted to set himself up ruler in Phimai, holding sway over Korat and other eastern provinces. King Taksin of the Thonburi Kingdom (1768–1782) sent two of his generals, brothers Thong Duang and Boonma, to defeat the prince, who was executed in 1768. Thong Duang later became King Rama I of the kingdom, and Korat became his strategic stronghold on the northeastern frontier to supervise the Lao and Khmer tributary states.
Nakhon Ratchasima Railway Station
In 1826, Vientiane King ChaoAnouvong, perceiving Siam as weakened, attacked Korat in the Laotian Rebellion against King Rama III that was to rage on for two years.[2]Lady Mo, the wife of the deputy governor at the time, is credited with having freed the city from Anouvong's army, and has been honored with a statue in the center of downtown Korat. A full account of the war and its impact on Laos and Siam, is detailed in the book, Lady Mo and Heroism at Tung Samrit, written by Frank G Anderson. The city's old wall, east of the monument was designed and built by a French engineer who is believed to be the one who also built Naraimaharaj Palace in Lopburi. The French-based design is reflected in the moat system that surrounds the innermost portion of the city.
During World War II, the troops from Nakhon Ratchasima joined the fight in Franco-Thai War, The Thai army was able to temporarily recapture some of the territory. After the war, the United States helped build Mittraphap Road from Saraburi to Nakhon Ratchasima.
In April 1981 during another attempted coup, the government, together with the royal family, took refuge in Korat.[citation needed]
On 8 and 9 February 2020, Thailand's deadliest shooting occurred in the city, when an offduty Royal Thai Army Sergeant shot 29 people dead and wounded 58 others, mostly at the local Terminal 21 mall, before being killed by responding officers.[5]
As of 2019[update], Nakhon Ratchasima Municipality had a population of 126,391. This number represents only part of the city's current size.
To reflect the population growth since Korat's original designation as a city municipality (thesaban nakhon) in 1995, both the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning and the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Administrative Organization regularly publish up-to-date city boundaries (Thai: เขตเมือง).[6] These boundaries extend the original municipal borders into adjacent sub-districts, and comprise the whole Capital district of Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima, which forms Korat's urban area. With an urban population of 466,098, Korat is the third largest city in Thailand, behind Bangkok and Chiang Mai.[1]
Administration
On 4 January 1908 Pho Klang subdistrict became Nakhon Ratchasima sanitation.[7]
The sanitation changed to town municipality (thesaban mueang) on 11 December 1935.[8] On 8 March 1937 the municipality was enlarged to 4.4 km2.[9] and later on 1 January 1983 to 37.5 km2 or 5 percent of Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima District. The status was upgraded to city municipality (thesaban nakhon) on 25 September 1995.[10] The administration of the city is responsible for a population of 126,391 registered residents in 71,022 households.[1]
Korat's economy has traditionally been heavily dependent on agriculture. It is known as a processing centre for Isan's production of rice, tapioca, and sugar. The Isan region accounts for half of Thailand's exports of those commodities. Together, these three agricultural commodities employ 700,000 Isan families. Korat is also one of two sites in Thailand manufacturing disk drives by Seagate Technology, employing 12,100 workers in Korat.[14][15]
Retail
Korat has become the commercial hub, not only for Isan, but also for neighbouring Cambodia and Laos. All three of Thailand's largest Bangkok-based department store chains have invested in expansive outlets in the city, which will provide one million square metres of retail space by late 2017.[14]
Transport
Air
Nakhon Ratchasima Airport lies 26 kilometres (16 mi) east of the city.[16] There are no scheduled air services operating from the airport.
Passing near the city is Mittraphap Road (Thailand Route 2), the main arterial road that joins Bangkok with the province capitals of Saraburi, Nakhon Ratchasima. Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, and Nong Khai (the major gateway to Laos). A new motorway connecting Korat to Bangkok is under construction in 2016 and will reduce travel time on the 250 km (160 mi) journey to just over two hours.[14]
The stadium is in the former SEA Games sports complex on Highway 304 (Pak Thong Chai Road) to the southwest of the city. The stadium is all-seats with a capacity of 20,000.
^ abcรายงานสถิติจำนวนประชากรและบ้านประจำปี พ.ศ.2562 [Statistics, population and house statistics for the year 2019]. Registration Office Department of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior (in Thai). 31 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2020. Archiving is not necessary because DOPA provides data from 1993 to future years.
^Chandler, David P.; Roff, William R.; Smail, John R.W.; Steinberg, David Joel; Taylor, Robert H.; Woodside, Alexander; Wyatt, David K. (1987) [1971]. "13 Siam, 1767–1868". In David, Steinberg (ed.). In search of south-east Asia (Revised ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 113–117. ISBN0-8248-1110-0. OCLC500095794.
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