Chaiyaphum (ชัยภูมิ)

Thai. ‘Field of victory’ or ‘victorious land’. The name of a province (map) and its capital, in Isaan. The city has around 25,000 inhabitants and is located at 342 kms Northeast of Bangkok. The history of this city dates back to the 12th century AD, during the Angkorian period of the Khmer Empire, when it was a small town on the way from Angkor to Prasat Meuang Singh (fig.) in present-day Kanchanaburi and of which Prang Ku (fig.) is today a remainder. In 1817 a group of Laotians from Vientiane, led by Nai Lae, settled in the area which they called Ban Luang. With the 1819 appointment of his son Chao Yo as the ruler of Champasak, the power of the Laotian vassal king Chao Anuvong of Vientiane greatly expanded, as did his ambitions and in 1827 he declared war on Siam. Nai Lae, the local Laotian ruler of Ban Luang, changed allegiance and supported the Siamese troops. The Laotian troops were defeated, but before that Nai Lae was killed on the battlefield. He was made a local hero and was renamed Phraya Phakdi Chumpon. His monument today stands in front of the Chaiyaphum City Hall. Geographically the province is cut into two from North to South by the Phetchabun mountain range, with the East of the province belonging to the Korat Plateau. Chaiyaphum province has five national parks, the Taht Thohn National Park with several scenic waterfalls and dry dipterocarp forests, the Saithong National Park with its waterfall of the same name and Siam Tulip fields,  the Pah Hin Ngahm National Park with its rock forest, bizarrely shaped rock formations, Phu Laenkha National Park with its forested hills, and Nahm Nahw National Park which territory is shared with Phetchabun province. The name Chaiyaphum refers to the natural richness and fertility of the soil. The province neighbours the provinces of Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Lopburi and Phetchabun, and has 15 amphur and one king amphur, 124 tambon and 1,393 mu ban. See also Chaiyaphum data file. 回