The Chi River (, , ) is the longest
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
flowing wholly within
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. It is long but carries less water than the second longest river, the
Mun. The name of the river is "Mae Si" () in the
Isan
Northeast Thailand or Isan ( Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 prov ...
and
Lao language
Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian (, 'Lao' or , 'Lao language'), is a Kra–Dai language of the Lao people. It is spoken in Laos, where it is the official language for around 7 million people, as well as in northeast Thailand, where ...
s of the region, being transliterated as "Chi" in Bangkok-Thai. In
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
s there are often
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...
s in the
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of the Chi River basin.
Course
The river rises in the
Phetchabun mountains, then runs east through the central Isan provinces of
Chaiyaphum
Chaiyaphum ( th, ชัยภูมิ, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeastern Thailand, capital of Chaiyaphum Province. it had a population of 58,350, and covers the full ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Chaiyaphum District. Chaiya ...
,
Khon Kaen
Khon Kaen ( th, ขอนแก่น, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, also known as the "big four of Isan", the others being Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ubon Ratchathani. It is the capital of Khon Kaen province and ...
, and
Maha Sarakham
Sarakham is the capital city of Maha Sarakham Province in Thailand's northeastern (Isan) region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is in a rice-growing area on the southern Khorat plain, straddling the Chi River. Mahasarakham is 475 ...
, then turns south in
Roi Et
Roi Et (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in north-eastern Thailand, capital of Roi Et Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Roi Et district. As of 2006 it had a population of 34,229. Roi Et is 514 km from Ba ...
, runs through
Yasothon
Yasothon ( th, ยโสธร, ) is a town on the Chi River in the north-eastern region of Thailand. It is the capital and administrative center of Yasothon province and seat of its city district. In this district, subdistrict Nai Mueang ( 'in ...
and joins the Mun in the
Kanthararom district of
Sisaket Province. The river carries approximately of water per annum.
The river was an 18th-century migration route for the re-peopling of the
Khorat Plateau by ethnic
Lao people from the left (east) bank of the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
resettling on the right bank. This began in 1718 when the first king of the left bank
Kingdom of Champasak
The Kingdom of Champasak (Lao: ຈຳປາສັກ ɕàmpàːsák or Bassac, (1713–1904) was a Lao kingdom under Nokasad, a grandson of King Sourigna Vongsa, the last king of Lan Xang and son-in-law of the Cambodian King Chey Chet ...
, King
Nokasad Nokasad (full name Somdetch Brhat Chao Jaya Sri Samudra Buddhangkura; alternate names Soi Si Samout Phouthong Koun; King of Champa Nagapurisiri or Nakhon Champa Nakhaburisi) (reckoned posthumously to have been born in 1693 as Prince ( Chao) Nakasatr ...
, sent a group of some 3,000 subjects led by an official in his service to found the first settlement in the Chi River valley—and indeed anywhere in the interior of the
Khorat Plateau—
Muang Suwannaphum
( sa, सुवर्णभूमि; Pali: '); my, သုဝဏ္ဏဘူမိ, ; km, សុវណ្ណភូមិ, ''Sovannaphoum''; and th, สุวรรณภูมิ, . is a toponym, that appears in many ancient Indian literary ...
in present-day
Roi Et Province (a history recorded and remembered, largely in terms of the struggle to expand
wet-rice cultivation in the river valley). Their descendants are now regarded as a separate
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
from the Lao to the north and the central Thai to the southwest.
Pop culture
Chi river is the setting of a
Thai TV drama on
Channel 7 HD, titled ''Chart Lam Chi'' (ชาติลำชี; The River Chi's Protector). It was an action-drama TV series that aired from March 14 to April 25, 2018,
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...
from namesake
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
in 1969 (starred by
Mitr Chaibancha
Mitr Chaibancha ( Thai มิตร ชัยบัญชาpronunciation, 28 January 1934 in Phetchaburi, Thailand - 8 October 1970) was a Thai film actor who acted 266 films from 1956 to 1970.
He died on 8 October 1970 at Dongtan Beach, Jomt ...
and
Petchara Chaowarat
Petchara Chaowarat ( Thai: เพชรา เชาวราษฎร์; born 19 January 1943 in Rayong Province, Thailand) is a Thai actress who starred in around 300 films from 1961 to 1979. An icon of the "Golden Age" of Thai cinema, she wa ...
).
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Ostracods (Crustacea) from floodplain of the Chi River basin
Isan
Rivers of Thailand
Geography of Chaiyaphum province
Geography of Khon Kaen province
Geography of Maha Sarakham province
Geography of Phetchabun province
Geography of Roi Et province
Geography of Sisaket province
Geography of Yasothon province
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