Nakhon Phanom ( th, นครพนม, ) is a 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 ...

'') in northeastern

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 ...

, capital of Nakhon Phanom Province. The town covers ''

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'' Nai Mueang and Nong Saeng and parts of ''

s'' At Samat and Nong Yat, all in

Mueang Nakhon Phanom District Mueang Nakhon Phanom ( th, เมืองนครพนม, )) is the capital district ('' amphoe mueang'') of Nakhon Phanom province, northeastern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): That Phanom, Renu ...

. As of 2006, it had a population of 27,591. This town is located northeast of Bangkok.

Geography

Nakhon Phanom is on the right (west) 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 List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...

River. The Laotian town of

Thakhek Thakhek (Lao language: ທ່າແຂກ), the capital of Khammouane Province, is a town in south-central Laos on the Mekong River. The Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, linking Thakhek and Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, across the river, started ...

lies on the other side of the Mekong. A long lake lies to the west of the city. The towns are joined by the

Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge The Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge ( th, สะพานมิตรภาพ ไทย-ลาว แห่งที่ 3, ) over the Mekong is a bridge that connects Nakhon Phanom Province in Thailand with Thakhek, Khammouane Province in ...

Climate

Nakhon Phanom has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Aw''). Winters are dry and warm. Temperatures rise until April, which is hot with the average daily maximum at . The

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season runs from May through October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm.

Transportation

Route 212 runs from

Nong Khai Nong Khai ( th, เทศบาลเมืองหนองคาย, ) is a city in northeast Thailand. It is the capital of Nong Khai province. Nong Khai city is located in Mueang Nong Khai district. Nong Khai lies on the Mekong River, near ...

along the Mekong River through Nakhon Phanom to

Mukdahan Mukdahan ( th, มุกดาหาร, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') and capital of Mukdahan Province, which became Thailand's 73rd province in 1982. In the northern region of the country, on the right (west) bank Mekong River, it was for ...

, and then south to

Ubon Ratchathani Ubon Ratchathani ( th, อุบลราชธานี, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan (with Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen), also known as the "big four of Isan." The city is on the Mun River in the south ...

. Route 22 leads west through Sakhon Nakhon to

Udon Thani Udon Thani ( th, อุดรธานี, ) is a city in Isan (Northeast Thailand), the capital of Udon Thani Province and with a population of approximately 430,000 in its urban area the 7th largest city in the country. The city municipality ...

. Nakhon Phanom is served by

Nakhon Phanom Airport : ''For the military use of the facility see Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base'' Nakhon Phanom Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานนครพนม) is a small domestic airport serving Nakhon Phanom, the capital city of Nakhon ...

, west of downtown.

Education

The town is home to

Nakhon Phanom University Nakhon Phanom University (NPU) ( th, มหาวิทยาลัยนครพนม) was established in 2005 by combining the existing tertiary schools of Nakhon Phanom Province, Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam ...

, which was formed in 2005 by the merger of several local schools, including the former Nakhon Phanom Rajabhat University.

Sports

Nakhon Phanom is home to the Madgoat Basketball Club, which plays in the

Thailand Basketball League The Thailand Basketball League (TBL) () is a men's professional basketball league in Thailand. The league is composed 11 teams on the Men's division while the Women's division consists of six teams. The league also consists of 3 divisions: Divis ...

, the country's highest division.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 17, 24, 25, N, 104, 46, 51, E, region:TH_type:city(27000), display=title Populated places in Nakhon Phanom province Laos–Thailand border crossings Cities and towns in Thailand Isan