Mueang Lopburi ( th, เมืองลพบุรี, , ) is the capital district ('' amphoe mueang'') of Lopburi province, central

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 bo ...

. The district is home to Khok Kathiam Air Force Base.

History

Lopburi is an ancient city. In the Khmer era, it was Lavo or Lava Pura, the important city of the eastern part of the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Et ...

valley. In the

Ayuthaya kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...

, it was a northeastern frontier city. The glorious period of Lopburi was during the reign of King

Narai King Narai the Great ( th, สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( th, รามาธิบดีที่ ๓ ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the Pr ...

the Great. He stayed in his palace eight to nine months a year, making Lopburi the second capital of the kingdom. After his reign, the city was nearly deserted, only to be enriched again when 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 ...

visited and renovated King Narai's Palace. 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 � ...

set up Lopburi as the military center of Thailand. He reformed Lopburi city, with its modern center located about 4 km east from the historical center. His predominant building style,

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

shows along Narai Maharat Road.

Geography

The southwestern part of the district is low

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...

. The rest is intermixed plains and hills. Besides the

Lopburi River The Lopburi River ( th, แม่น้ำลพบุรี, , ) is a tributary of the Chao Phraya River in central Thailand. It splits from the Chao Phraya river at Tambon Bang Phutsa, Singburi. Passing through Tha Wung district and the town of ...

, the important water resources are the Sap Lek Reservoir and Khlong Raphiphat. Neighboring districts are (from the west clockwise) Tha Wung, Ban Mi, Khok Samrong and Phatthana Nikhom of Lopburi Province, Phra Phutthabat, Nong Don and Don Phut of Saraburi province, Ban Phraek of Ayutthaya province, and Chaiyo of Ang Thong province.

Administration

The district is divided into 24 sub-districts (''

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'' ...

s''), which are further subdivided into 223 villages (''

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''). The town (''

thesaban mueang 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 ...

'')

Lopburi Lopburi ( th, ลพบุรี, , ) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about northeast of Bangkok. It has a population of 58,000. The town (''thesaban mueang'') covers the whole ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Th ...

covers ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Thale Chup Son. There are two further sub-district municipalities (''

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 ...

''): Khao Phra Ngam covering ''tambon'' Khao Phra Ngam, and Khok Tum covering ''tambons'' Khok Tum and Nikhom Sang Ton Eng. There are a further 19 tambon administrative organizations (TAO). Geocode 13 not used.

Transportation

The district is served by 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 was ...

's Ban Pa Wai,

, Tha Khae, and Khok Kathiam Railway Stations.

External links

amphoe.com
(Thai) {{Lopburi Mueang Lopburi