Suphan Buri () 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 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 ...
. It 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'' ...
'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the
Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town is 101 km north-northwest of Bangkok.
Geography
Suphan Buri lies on the
Tha Chin River
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 ...
(known locally as the ''Suphan River''), at an elevation of . The surrounding area is low-lying and flat, with rice farms covering much of the land.
Climate
Suphan Buri has a
tropical wet and dry 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 quite dry and very warm. Temperatures rise until April, which is very 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.
History
19th-century Siamese historian and statesman Damrong Rajanubhab speculated that the city was founded under the name Suvarnapurī around 1350, around the time when nearby U Thong was plagued by an epidemic. U Thong was the capital of the Kingdom of Suphannaphum, one of the mueang of the Dvaravati period, in which Ramathibodi I had reigned before founding Ayutthaya, the capital of the homonymous kingdom in the same period. U Thong's ancient name was Suphannaphum or Suvarnabhūmi (literally: the origin or birthplace of gold), which was probably abandoned when the water shortage epidemic raged and Suvarnapurī was founded along the Tha Chin River. Ramathibodi appointed his brother-in-law Khun Luang Pha-Ngua as governor of Suvarnapurī, who gave the city its present name Suphanburi and who would become king of Ayutthaya in 1370 with the name Borommaracha I.
Later, Suphanburi remained a frontier town between Siam and the kingdoms that alternated in modern day Burma. Several battles were fought in its surroundings between the Siamese and Burmese armies until the first half of the 19th century. The most important was the one that took place on January 18, 1593 in Nong Sarai, a few kilometers northwest of the city. The battle was in progress, when the Siamese king Naresuan challenged the heir to the throne of the Taungu dynasty to a duel on the back of elephants to decide the fate of the clash. Within minutes Naresuan killed his rival, the Burmese troops withdrew and Ayutthaya thus gained independence after 29 years of vassalage at Pegu's court. The provincial coat of arms still remembers this duel.
The municipality took on its present form during the reign of Mongkut (1851-1868), when the central nucleus was unified with the neighboring settlements. Suphanburi underwent major changes in the years between the 20th and 21st centuries at the behest of Banharn Silpa-Archa, a wealthy entrepreneur native of the city who was prime minister of Thailand between 1995 and 1996. Banharn was accused of spending the 90% of the national budget for the Suphanburi Province. Among the various infrastructures he had built, many of which took the name Baharn-Jaemsai (Jaemsai is the name of his wife), there are seven schools, a 123-meter high tower in the city center, another tower where a clock and a series of pedestrian bridges that cross wide, almost deserted streets.
Culture
Suphan Buri is the place where ''
Luk thung'' Superstar
Pumpuang Duangjan
Pumpuang Duangjan (; ), also known by the nickname Pueng (; ; " Bee") (4 August 1961 – 13 June 1992), was a Thai megastar. She was the symbol of Thai songs culture. She was the singer, actress who pioneered electronic Luk Thung. She is consi ...
was buried and is sometimes called the Thai
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, as it is an important center of the music industry.
Transportation
![Suphan Buri Railway Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Suphan_Buri_Railway_Station.JPG)
Suphan Buri is at the end of a branch 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 was ...
's
southern line. The branch meets the main line at Nong Pla Duk Junction near
Ban Pong.
Route 340 passes through Suphan Buri, leading north to
Chai Nat
Chai Nat ( th, ชัยนาท, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, capital of Chai Nat province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' tambon Nai Mueang and parts of Ban Kluai, Tha Chai and Khao Tha Phra, all in Mueang Chai Nat ...
and south to
Bang Bua Phong. Route 321 leads west and then south to
Nakhon Pathom
Nakhon Pathom ( th, นครปฐม, ) is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in central Thailand, the former capital of Nakhon Pathom province. One of the most important landmarks is the giant Phra Pathommachedi. The city is also home to Thailand's ...
. Route 329 leads east to
Bang Pahan. Route 3195 leads northeast to
Ang Thong
Ang Thong ( th, อ่างทอง, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, capital of Ang Thong Province. The town covers the entirety of ''tambon'' Talat Luang and Bang Kaeo as well as parts of the tambon Sala Daeng, Ban Hae, Ban It, ...
.
Gallery
File:Lakmueangsuphanburi06.jpg, The ''City Pillar'' is housed in a Chinese temple
File:Gate City Pillar Shrine Suphanburi.jpg, Gate City Pillar Shrine, Suphan Buri
File:Suphanburi stn.jpg, Suphan Buri Railway Station
File:Suphanburiwatpalelai0609c.jpg, Wat Pa Le Lai
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Populated places in Suphan Buri province
Cities and towns in Thailand