Nakhon Si Thammarat

History

Nakhon Si Thammarat is one of the oldest cities in Thailand with a rich history. The Wat Maheyong inscription (K. 407), a Sanskrit text of about the seventh or eighth century, is said to come from Nakhon Si Thammarat, although Lucien Fournereau gave its provenance as a Wat Mahyeng in what is now Nakhon Pathom province. The earliest settlement in the vicinity of the city was Tha Rua, about ten kilometers south of the modern city, where ceramics from the Song dynasty were found dated to the twelfth century. The settlement then moved to Muang Phra Wieng, which was associated with the Tambralinga Kingdom, four kilometers to the south. An inscription was found at Wat Sema Muang that bore: The king of Srivijaya "had established a foothold on the Malay Peninsula at Ligor" by 775, where he "built various edifices, including a sanctuary dedicated to the Buddha and to the Bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani." Tambralinga, whose name means "Red Linga" (from Sanskrit tām(b)ra "copper" and lingam) and may relate to Chinese Tan Ma Ling (單馬令), was one of the polities under Mahayanist Srivijaya thalassocracy. Tambralinga sent its last recorded embassy to the Song court in 1070, earlier than the last missions of Lavo in 1155, of Cambodia in 1135 and of Srivijaya itself in 1178. The Chronicles of Nakorn Si Thammarat, composed in the seventeenth century, attributed the foundation of current city of Nakhon Si Thammarat to King Sri Thammasok in the thirteenth century. An inscription found at Chaiya stated that King Sri Thammasok ruled Tambralinga in 1231. King Sri Thammasok constructed Wat Phra Mahathat and introduced Singhalese Theravada Buddhism. The Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom held authorities over "twelve cities" that extended from Chumphon to the north and Pahang to the south.…

Most-observed species

• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  156
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  151
• Asian Openbill

  Anastomus oscitans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  98
• Zebra Dove

  Geopelia striata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  88
• Great Myna

  Acridotheres grandis Moore, 1858 · Aves
  80
• Little Cormorant

  Microcarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  80
• Spotted Dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  80
• Oriental Magpie-Robin

  Copsychus saularis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  76