Chumphon (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, capital of the

Chumphon Province Chumphon (, ) is a southern Provinces of Thailand, province (''changwat'') of Thailand on the Gulf of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surat Thani province, Surat Thani, and Ranong province, ...

and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers (288 miles) from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. As of 2018 it had a population of around 33,600. The town covers the commune (''

tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) 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'' of Bangkok, whi ...

'') Tha Taphao completely and parts of ''tambons'' Bang Mak, Wang Phai, Na Thung, Tak Daet, and Khun Krathing. Its main

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

activity is

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

History

Chumphon volunteers fought invading Japanese during World War II. Chumphon became a rail hub for

Imperial Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. It was a station on the Southern Line and connected to the short-lived Kra Isthmus Railway.Journal of Kyoto Seika University
No. 27, Part IX

Geography

Chumphon lies just inland from the west coast of the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

. To the west are the northern hills of the Phuket Range, a subrange of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

. These hills reach in the area near Chumphon. There are also many smaller peaks in the area in the range of to high.

Climate

Chumphon has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Am'') just falling short of a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(Köppen ''Af''). Temperatures are hot throughout the year. The period from December to April has relatively less rainfall than from May to November, when rainfall can be very heavy, particularly in October and November.

Transport

*Bus: There is a small bus system within the city itself. Trains and buses run to and from

every day. *Road: The main road through Chumphon is Thailand Highway 4, also known as Phetkasem Road, leading north to

, and south to Ranong, Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang, Phatthalung, and the border with

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

near Sadao. *Rail: The Chumphon railway station is on the Southern Line of the

State Railway of Thailand The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) (, abbrev. รฟท., ) is the state-owned rail operator under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport (Thailand), Ministry of Transport in Thailand. History The SRT was founded as the Royal State Rail ...

. Trains also stop at Pathio railway station in

. *Air: The city's airport, Chumphon Airport (IATA: CJM, ICAO: VTSE) is 30 km north in Pathio District. The airport has daily flights to

. : Nok Air and

Thai AirAsia Thai AirAsia (, ) is a Thai low-cost airline. It is a joint venture of Malaysian AirAsia () and Thailand's Asia Aviation. It serves AirAsia's regularly scheduled domestic and international flights from Bangkok and other cities in Thailand. H ...

operate multiple daily flights between Bangkok ( Don Mueang, DMK) and Chumphon Airport. The airport is a hub and regional gateway providing connecting services to Chumphon city and high speed ferry services to the islands of the

including Ko Tao and

Ko Samui Ko Samui (or Koh Samui), often locally shortened to Samui (, ), is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Mu Ko Samui, Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted munic ...

Popular culture

* In the science fiction novel, '' The Chronoliths'', Chumphon is the landing site of the first .

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Chumphon province Cities and towns in Thailand