Tha Rae (or spelled: ''Tharae'' and ''Thare''; th, ท่าแร่, ), also known as Ban Tha Rae (, ), is a ''

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'' ...

'' (sub-district) and community of Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, Sakon Nakhon Province, northeastern Thailand (Isan).

History

Tha Rae was founded in 1884 by a French missionary named Xavier Guego, who evacuated his family from downtown Sakon Nakhon across Nong Han Lake to set up a new residence on the lake's northern shore. They founded a

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

called St. Michael's Cathedral. The first settlers in Tha Rae were made up of about 10 households of Vietnamese Christian immigrants and 10 households of native Isan, totaling more than 20 households. Currently, the village has around 2,200 households. That is why Tha Rae is the largest Catholic community in Thailand. It is governed by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Thare and Nonseng. Moreover, especially in the past, Tha Rae was notorious for being a trading centre for

dog meat Dog meat is the flesh and other edible parts derived from dogs. Historically, human consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world. During the 19th century westward movement in the United States, ''mountainmen'', native ...

exported to neighbouring countries, including local consumption. But from the insistence of local people that at present, the trade of dog and popular consumption of dog meat has decreased considerably. Nowadays, Tha Rae is regarded as the

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

zone of Sakon Nakhon. Along the main street, there are still old

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

buildings standing.

Geography

Tha Rae is about 21 km (13 mi) from downtown Sakon Nakhon via Sakon Nakhon–Nakhon Phanom Highway, 14 km (8 mi) from

Sakon Nakhon Airport Sakon Nakhon Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานสกลนคร) is an airport in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand. It is used for civil and military purposes (Royal Thai Air Force). Airlines and destinations Accidents *On 23 September ...

. Neighbouring sub-districts are (from north clockwise): Na Phiang in

Kusuman District Kusuman ( th, กุสุมาลย์, ) is a district ('' amphoe'') of Sakon Nakhon province, Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise) Phon Na Kaeo and Mueang Sakon Nakhon of Sakon Nakhon Province, Na Wa, ...

, Na Kaeo in Phon Na Kaeo District, Nong Lat in its district, and Chiang Khruea in its district. The landscape of Tha Rae is a

rural–urban fringe The rural–urban fringe, also known as the outskirts, rurban, peri-urban or the urban hinterland, can be described as the "landscape interface between town and country", or also as the transition zone where urban and rural uses mix and often ...

. Each ''

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 ...

'' (village) is near each other, but there are some villages that are about 1 km (about 1093 yd) away. Most of the area is lowland alongside the lake of Nong Han.

Economy

Most Tha Rae residents work in rice cultivation. Nong Han freshwater fishing and fruit farming are fallbacks. 250px, Udomdejwat Mansion, one of old colonial buildings

Administration

Tha Rae is administered by the local government, subdistrict-municipality Tha Rae (เทศบาลตำบลท่าแร่). Tha Rae is also divided into eight administrative villages.

Places

*St Michael's Cathedral, Tha Rae *Old colonial buildings

Local tradition

Due to being the largest Catholic community in Thailand, Tha Rae has a unique local tradition that's the only one in the world. Known as the
Tha Rae Star Procession
, the tradition is to celebrate

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

every year. The community hosts a Christmas star parade along the road from Tha Rae to other areas in Mueang Sakon Nakhon, since they believe the star (Star of Bethlehem) is the symbol of

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The parade is decorated with big stars and electric lighting. It reflects Christians' belief that Jesus was born in the human world. Every year, there are around 200 star parades. This festival has been held continuously for over 100 years every night on December 24 (

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

). It has built a great reputation for Tha Rae.

References

Tambon of Sakon Nakhon province {{Coord, 17, 15, 22.5, N, 100, 11, 31.6, E, region:TH_type:landmark, display=title