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 Krabi
is a southern province on
Thailand's Andaman seaboard with perhaps the country's oldest
history of continued settlement. After dating stone tools, ancient
colored pictures, beads, pottery and skeletal remains found in the
province's many cliffs and caves, it is thought that Krabi has
been home to homo sapiens since the period 25,000 - 35,000 B.C. In
recorded times it was called the 'Ban Thai Samor', and was one of
twelve towns that used, before people were widely literate, the
monkey for their standard. At that time,
c. 1200 A.D., Krabi was tributary to the Kingdom of Ligor, a city
on the Kra Peninsula's east coast better known today as Nakhon Si
Thammarat.
At the
start of the Rattanakosin period, about 200 years ago, when
the capital was finally settled at Bangkok, an elephant kraal was
established in Krabi by order of Chao Phraya Nakorn (Noi), the
governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat, which was by then a part of the
Thai Kingdom. He sent his vizier, the Phra Palad, to oversee this
task, which was to ensure a regular supply of elephants for the
larger town. So followers many emigrated in the steps of the Phra
Palad that soon Krabi had a large community in three different
boroughs : Pakasai, Khlong Pon, and Pak Lao. In 1872, King
Chulalongkorn graciously elevated these to town status, called
Krabi, a word that preserves in its meaning the monkey symbolism
of the old standard. The town's first governor was Luang Thep Sena,
though it continued a while as a dependency of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
This was changed in 1875, when Krabi was raised to a fourth-level
town in the old system of Thai government. Administrators then
reported directly to the central government in Bangkok, and
Krabi's history as a unique entity separated from the other
provinces, had begun.
During the
present reign, the corps of civil servants, the merchants, and the
population generally of Krabi and nearby
provinces have together organized construction of a royal
residence at Laem Hang Nak Cape for presentation to His Majesty
the King. This lies thirty kilometers to the west of Krabi Town on
the Andaman coast. |
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| Krabi is divided into eight
districts : Amphoe Muang (Krabi Town), Khao Panom, Khlong Thom,
Plai Phraya, Ko Lanta, Ao Luk, and Lam Thap and, Nhua Khlong. |
 Krabi is on the Andaman Sea
coast of south-west Thailand,
between 7' 30" and 8' 30" north latitude, and 98' 30" and 99' 30"
west longitude.
Total
area is 4,709 square kilometers bounded thus :
North - Connects with Phang-nga and Sura Thani Provinces.
South - Connects with Trang Provinces and the Andaman Sea.
East - Connects with Trang and Nakhon Si Thammarat Provinces.
West - Connects with Phang-nga Provinces and the Andaman Sea.
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| Krabi's estimated population,
as of September 1999, is 344,610 |
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Nearby provinces(kms.) |
Its districts (kms.) |
| Phang Nga |
86 |
Ao Luk |
43 |
| Phuket |
176 |
Plai Phraya |
66 |
| Trang |
131 |
Khao Panom |
39 |
| Phattalung |
193 |
Khlong Thom |
42 |
| Surat Thani |
211 |
Ko Lanta |
45 |
| Nakhon Si Thammarat |
233 |
Lam Thap |
67 |
| Satun |
276 |
Nua Khlong |
17 |
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 Krabi's mountainous physical
geography is broken by highlands and plains on the mainland.The
provincial administration also covers more than 130 islands in the
Andaman Sea. Natural forest cover is chiefly mangrove and Cassia
trees. Krabi's sandy clay soil conditions are perfect for a
variety of agricultural products, including rubber trees, palms,
mangos, coconuts, and coffee. The Krabi River flows 5 kilometers
through the city and falls into the Andaman at Tambon Pak Nam.
There are other streams as well : the Khlong Pakasai, the Khlong
Krabi Yai and the Khlong Krabi Noi in the province's highest range
of mountains, the Khao Phanom Bencha. |
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