The Wang Thong River ( th, แคววังทอง, , , also known as the ''Khek River'') is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

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 ...

. Its source lies in the

Phetchabun Mountains The Phetchabun mountains ( th, ทิวเขาเพชรบูรณ์, , ) are a mountain massif in Phetchabun, Phitsanulok, Loei and Chaiyaphum Provinces, Thailand. It consists of two parallel mountain chains, with the valley of the Pa Sa ...

in the

Khao Kho District Khao Kho ( th, เขาค้อ, ) is a district ('' amphoe'') of Phetchabun province, northern Thailand. Etymology The name of the district comes from Khao Kho, a peak in the Phetchabun Mountains, named either after ''Livistona speciosa'', a k ...

, Thailand.Whitewhater Rafting at Tourism Authority of Thailand
It flows through

Thung Salaeng Luang National Park Thung Salaeng Luang National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติทุ่งแสลงหลวง, ) is a national park in Phitsanulok and Phetchabun Provinces of Thailand. It encompasses substantial portions of Wang Thong an ...

and forms

Namtok Sri Dit Namtok Si Dit ( th, น้ำตกศรีดิษฐ์) is a waterfall and tourist attraction in Thailand. The waterfall is on the Wang Thong River The Wang Thong River ( th, แคววังทอง, , , also known as the ''Khek River' ...

and

Namtok Kaeng Sopha Namtok Kaeng Sopha ( th, น้ำตกแก่งโสภา) is a waterfall in Wang Thong District, Phitsanulok Province, Thailand. It is in Thung Salaeng Luang National Park on the Wang Thong River off of Lomsak Road (Highway 12). It is t ...

(Kaeng Sopha Waterfall) in the Wang Thong District of Phitsanulok Province, and finally flows through into the

Bang Krathum District Bang Krathum ( th, บางกระทุ่ม, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the Phitsanulok province, Thailand. Etymology ''Bang'' ( th, บาง) means 'village' or 'settlement'. The second element ''krathum'' ( th, กระทุ่ ...

, passing through

Ban Sam Ruen ) , native_name = บ้านสามเรือน , nickname = , settlement_type = Village , motto = , image_skyline = 02 Villagers on Ban Sam Ruen Farm.JPG , imagesize = ...

and on to the border of Phitsanulok and

Phichit Phichit ( th, พิจิตร, เมือง) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, capital of Phichit Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Phichit district, an area of 12.017 km². As of 2005 it ...

, where it drains into the

Nan River The Nan River ( th, แม่น้ำน่าน, , ) is a river in Thailand. It is one of the most important tributaries of the Chao Phraya River. Geography The Nan River originates in the Luang Prabang Range, Nan Province. The provinces ...

at .Google Earth The land drained by the Wang Thong River is part of the Nan Basin and the Chao Phraya Watershed.

Etymology

Of the names Khek and Wang Thong, Khek (Thai: เข็ก) is the older name for the river. The work Khek is another name for the ethnicity more commonly known as

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

. The two words are cognates of Chinese 客家 (meaning house-guest). The river derives its modern name Wang Thong from its path through Amphoe Wang Thong. The first element wang (Thai: วัง) means palace.Thai/English Dictionary
The second element thong (Thai: ทอง) means

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

.Thai/English Dictionary
This Thai word for gold was borrowed from the

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

.The Chola Empire and the Chao Phraya Delta
The name of the river translates to ''River of the Golden Palace.''

History

The early Ban Wang Thong and Ban Saphan communities relied heavily on the Wang Thong River. Before the construction of highways, most traffic to Phichit and Nakhon Sawan was via boat.

Brotherly Villages Boat Race

The Wang Thong river was historically the site for a boat race between the villagers of

Ban Wang Thong Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

and Ban Saphan. The race took place annually in November after the rainy season. The original boat race was discontinued prior to the 1940s. In 1982, a plan to reintroduce the Brotherly Villages Boat Race was discussed by senior local officials, the traders of the Wang Thong Market, farmer organizations and the abbot of Wat Bang Saphan to promote the unity of the community. Rather than having one village compete against the other as in earlier days, the new boat race involves competition between local farmer and village organizations. The first race in the reborn competition was opened by District Officer Naaj Amphoe. The present form of the boat race involves less ritual activities than the pre-1940s races.

Khek River Rafting Festival

Tourists come to the Wang Thong River to see the waterfalls along its path, and to engage in rafting. Rapids along the river include the Wang Nam Yen Rapids within

. Some portions of the Wang Thong River are designated level 5 rafting sites. This level of whitewater is the uppermost limit to rafting, meaning the river is wild, with a rapid current and difficult, steep rapids. The level of difficulty of the current depends on the volume of water flow. In the rainy season, the river becomes swifter. In June 2005, Phitsanulok Province initiated a campaign entitled "Sip Coffee at Kaeng Song, Paddle Along Nam Khek Rapids," and held the first Khek River Rafting Festival. The next Khek River Rafting Festival was held from July 7 through the end of October 2006 and the next from July 1 through October 31, 2007, under the name "Kaeng Song Cafe - Khek river rafting festival."Kaeng Song Cafe - Khek river rafting festival

Waterfalls

* Kaeng Song Waterfall * Kaeng Sopha Waterfall * Sri Dit Waterfall * Wang Nok Aen Waterfall

Bueng Rachanok

Bueng Rachanok (Thai: บึงราชนก) is a swamp along the Wang Thong River within the Wang Thong District of Phitsanulok Province. The swamp was renovated in 1994 by Phitsanulok Provincial Administration Organization, and is now a popular tourist attraction.Bueng Rachanok GIS Application

Hydroelectric power

A study has been done at

Naresuan University Naresuan University (NU) ( th, มหาวิทยาลัยนเรศวร, ) is a government university in Phitsanulok Province, northern Thailand. It was established as a separate university on 29 July 1990, the 400th anniversary of t ...

, Faculty of Engineering, to consider the practicalities of using the river's drop within the Salaeng Luang National Park to generate

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

.Development of Pico-hydropower Plant for Farming Village in Upstream Watershed, Thailand

Wildlife

Kaeng Bang Rachan Thai curry ( th, แกง, translit=kaeng, ) is a dish in Thai cuisine made from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the curries in India in their use of ing ...

at the source of the Wang Thong is a natural habitat for the freshwater jellyfish (''Craspedacusta sowerbii'') which is presently found in only the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

.Kaeng Bang Rachan at Tourism Authority of Thailand
Also, it is a natural habitat for rare species of butterflies such as

kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

, ''

Troides helena ''Troides helena'', the common birdwing, is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is often found in the wildlife trade due to its popularity with butterfly collectors. The butterfly has seventeen subspecies. Description The ...

'' and ''

Euploea ''Euploea'' is a genus of milkweed butterflies. The species are generally dark in coloration, often quite blackish, for which reason they are commonly called crows. As usual for their subfamily, they are poisonous due to feeding on milkweeds and ...

''.

Royal visit

King Rama IX Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

visited the Wang Thong River to inspect the Khek River Basin Development Project at Lom Sak District of Phetchabun Province on 24 February 1981. The purpose of the inspection was in relation to the king's multi-purpose irrigation projects.List of Projects undertaken through The Initiative of His Majesty the King, No. 18
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Malacological survey at Nam Khek River, Phitsanulok Province, North of Thailand
Rivers of Thailand Nan River