Chumphon ( th, ชุมพร, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Chumphon Province and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers (288 miles) from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

. As of 2005 it had a population of 33,522. The town covers the commune (''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 '' khwaeng ...

'') Tha Taphao completely and parts of ''tambons'' Bang Mak, Wang Phai, Na Thung, Tak Daet, and Khun Krathing. Its main economic activity is

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

History

Chumphon volunteers fought invading Japanese during World War II. Chumphon became a rail hub for

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitutio ...

. It was a station on the Southern Line and connected to the short-lived Kra Isthmus Railway.Journal of Kyoto Seika University
No. 27, Part IX

Geography

Chumphon lies just inland from the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand. To the west are the northern hills of the Phuket Range, a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. These hills reach in the area near Chumphon. There are also many smaller peaks in the area in the range of to high.

Climate

Chumphon has a tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Am'') just falling short of a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen ''Af''). Temperatures are hot throughout the year. The period from December to April has relatively less rainfall than from May to November, when rainfall can be very heavy, particularly in October and November.

Transport

*Bus: There is a small bus system within the city itself. Trains and buses run to and from

every day. *Road: The main road through Chumphon is Thailand Highway 4, also known as

Phetkasem Road Phet Kasem Road (, , )ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน. ''อ่านอย่างไร และ เขียนอย่างไร ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน.'' พิมพ์ครั้งที่ ...

, leading north to

, and south to

Ranong Ranong ( th, ระนองPronunciation) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong District. The town covers completely the area of the ''tambon'' Khao Niwet (เขานิเ� ...

Phang Nga Phang Nga ( th, พังงา, , ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phang Nga Province. The town covers the whole ''tambon'' Thai Chang of Mueang Phang Nga district. As of 2005 it had a population of 9,559 and ...

Krabi Krabi ( th, กระบี่, ) is the main town in the province of Krabi (''thesaban mueang'') on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River where it empties in Phang Nga Bay. As of 2020, the town had a population of ...

Trang Trang may refer to: Places * Trang province, Thailand **Trang, Thailand, capital city of Trang province **Trang Airport ** Trang railway station ** Trang River *Trang, a sub-district of Mayo district, Pattani province, Thailand * Trang (commune), ...

Phatthalung Phatthalung (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phatthalung Province. The town covers ''tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and provi ...

, and the border with Malaysia near Sadao. *Rail: The

Chumphon railway station Chumphon railway station is a railway station in Tha Taphao Subdistrict, Chumphon City, and is the main railway station for Chumphon Province. It is a class 1 railway station, from Thon Buri railway station. It is the first fueling station fro ...

is on the Southern Line of the

State Railway of Thailand The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) ( th, การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย, abbrev. รฟท., ) is the state-owned rail operator under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport in Thailand. History The SRT wa ...

. Trains also stop at

Pathio railway station Pathio railway station is a railway station in Thale Sap Sub-district, Pathio District, Chumphon, Thailand. It is a class 2 railway station, south of Thon Buri railway station Thon Buri railway station ( th, สถานีรถไฟธน ...

in Chumphon Province. *Air: The city's airport,

Chumphon Airport Chumphon Airport , ( th, ท่าอากาศยานชุมพร), is an airport in Tambon Chum Kho, Pathio District, Chumphon, Thailand. The airport is 35 kilometres north of Chumphon. Airlines and destinations Overview In 2008 ...

(IATA: CJM, ICAO: VTSE) is 30 km north in

Pathio Pathio ( th, ปะทิว, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the northern part of Chumphon province, southern Thailand. The province's main airport, Chumphon Airport is in Pathio. Pathio has alternate English spellings, Pathiu and Pathiew. G ...

District. The airport has daily flights to

. :

Nok Air Nok Air (, th, นกแอร์, derived from ''nok'' (นก), the Thai word for ''bird'') is a low-cost airline in Thailand operating mostly domestic services out of Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport. Thai Airways International ow ...

and

Thai AirAsia Thai AirAsia (, th, ไทยแอร์เอเชีย) is a joint venture of Malaysian low-fare airline AirAsia ( th, แอร์เอเชีย) and Thailand's Asia Aviation. It serves AirAsia's regularly scheduled domestic and int ...

operate multiple daily flights between Bangkok ( Don Mueang, DMK) and

. The airport is a hub and regional gateway providing connecting services to Chumphon city and high speed ferry services to the islands of the Gulf of Thailand including

Ko Tao Ko Tao ( th, เกาะเต่า, , ) is an island in Thailand and is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. It covers an area of about 21 km2 (8 sq mi). Administratively it is a subdistrict (''t ...

and Ko Samui.

Popular culture

* In the science fiction novel, '' The Chronoliths'', Chumphon is the landing site of the first chronolith.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Chumphon province Cities and towns in Thailand