300px, Procession of Buddha by boat along Khlong Damnoen Saduak in Lak Ha area Lak Ha ( th, หลักห้า, ) is a neighbourhood belonging to

Ban Phaeo District Ban Phaeo (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the northern part of Samut Sakhon province, central Thailand. History In the past the district was covered with deep forest. Hunters who traveled to hunt wild animals there always lost their way, so ...

of Samut Sakhon Province and Prasat Sit Sub-district, Damnoen Saduak District of Ratchaburi Province,

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

central Thailand.

History

Its name ''Lak Ha'' means "fifth

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

", refers to the fifth milestone of

Khlong Damnoen Saduak Khlong Damnoen Saduak ( th, คลองดำเนินสะดวก, ) is a khlong, canal in western central Thailand. It links the Tha Chin and Mae Klong rivers, and has a length of approximately 35 km. The canal was built by order of ...

, a ''

khlong A ''khlong'' ( th, คลอง, ), alternatively spelt as ''klong'' () commonly refers to a canal in Thailand. These canals are spawned by the rivers Chao Phraya, Tha Chin, and Mae Klong, along with their tributaries particularly in the low-ly ...

'' (canal) dug in the King

Mongkut Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...

's reign (Rama IV) bridging rivers of

Tha Chin The Tha Chin river ( th, แม่น้ำท่าจีน, , ) is a distributary of the Chao Phraya river, Thailand. It splits near the province of Chai Nat and then flows west from the Chao Phraya through the central plains, until it empt ...

Mae Klong The Mae Klong (, , ), sometimes spelled Mae Khlong or Meklong, is a river in western Thailand. The river begins at the confluence of the Khwae Noi (Khwae Sai Yok) and the Khwae Yai River (Khwae Si Sawat) in Kanchanaburi, it passes Ratchaburi ...

. The man-made straight line canal, approximately long, divided into eight milestones from the beginning to the destination at Bang Nok Khwaek Watergate, Samut Songkhram Province. It took two years, between 1866 and 1868, to complete. Lak Ha is a Khlong Damnoen Saduak waterfront community. There are many important places, such as Buddhist temple, Wat Prasat Sith, also formerly and still colloquially known as Wat Lak Ha or Wat Don Phai, a local spiritual anchor, including the

floating market A floating market is a market where goods are sold from boats. Originating in times and places where water transport played an important role in daily life, most floating markets operating today mainly serve as tourist attractions, and are chie ...

, Lak Ha Floating Market which is a continuation of the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Damnoen Saduak District. Luang Phor Trairat Rojanarit, a principle

Buddha image Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes Buddha in art, depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, na ...

of Wat Prasat Sith is worshiped by the Lak Ha people. Every year there is a local tradition, the procession of Buddha by boat along Khlong Damnoen Saduak in late January to February from the first to the eighth milestione in Damnoen Saduak District for the waterfront community people to pay homage to the good fortune.

Geography

The terrain is a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

, about to above sea level. Most of Lak Ha's area is fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, where a variety of fruits are cultivated, including grape, tangerine, dragon fruit, mango, young aromatic coconut, rose apple, etc. They are considered the main income of the community. 500px, Wat Prasat Sith Khlong Damnoen Saduak that flows through the area considered as the local main watercourse. It also branched into many different tributaries, both natural and man-made waterways.

Administration

Lak Ha was established as ''

sukhaphiban Sukhaphiban ( th, สุขาภิบาล ; translated as "sanitary district") were administrative divisions of Thailand. Sanitary districts were the first sub-autonomous entities established in Thailand. A first such district was created in ...

'' (sanitation district) in 1956 during the government of Field Marshal

Plaek Phibunsongkhram Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram ( th, แปลก พิบูลสงคราม ; alternatively transcribed as ''Pibulsongkram'' or ''Pibulsonggram''; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), locally known as Marshal P. ( th, จอมพล � ...

. It was upgraded to a ''

thesaban tambon Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

'' (sub-district municipality) in 1999. It has an administrative area comprising four sub-districts, namely Yokkrabat, Nong Bua, Nong Song Hong, and Rong Khe, 41 ''

muban Muban ( th, หมู่บ้าน; , ) is the lowest administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74,944 administrative mu ...

s'' (village), with a total area of 125.57 km². Lak Ha Sub-district Municipality hemmed by other areas (from the north clockwise): Bang Phae in Ratchaburi Province, and Sam Phran in Nakhon Pathom Province, Ban Phaeo and Mueang Samut Sakhon in Samut Sakhon Province, with Damnoen Saduak in Ratchaburi Province and Mueang Samut Songkhram in Samut Songkhram Province, respectively. The emblem of sub-district municipality shows rowing boat of female greengrocer in Khlong Damnoen Saduak and the backdrop is Wat Lak Si Rat Samoson, that refers to ancient temple which is the foundation of culture, fruit and vegetable selling cruise means the abundance of crops and nature, while Khlong Damnoen Saduak represents the prosperity of water transportation that has been around for a long time. The sub-district municipality slogan is "The prosperous agricultural town, the territory of four sub-districts, strong communities join forces to develop".

Population

In December 2013, it had total population of 40,157 people (19,574 men, and 20,583 women) in 9,044 households.

Places of interest

*Wat Prasat Sith * Wat Lak Si Rat Samoson *Lak Ha Floating Market

References

{{Coord, 13.555912, N, 100.039081, E, type:isle, display=title category:Neighbourhoods in Thailand Populated places in Ratchaburi province Populated places in Samut Sakhon province