Ratchaburi (, ) or Rajburi, Rat Buri) is a town (''
thesaban mueang'') in western
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
Ratchaburi Province
Ratchaburi province (, ) or Rat Buri () is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat'') lies in Western Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and ...
.
Ratchaburi town covers the entire ''
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 ...
'' Na Mueang (หน้าเมือง) of
Mueang Ratchaburi District. As of 2017 it had an estimated population of 36,169, down from 38,149 in 2005.
History
The earliest evidence of settled habitation is that of the
Dvaravati culture. At one time it was thought that the early town was founded on the 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. ...
, and that over time the coast had moved 30 km (18 miles) away to the south, due to
sedimentation
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to th ...
coming down the
Mae Klong River. However, geological and
palynological investigation has shown that these early Dvaravati and proto-Dvaravati towns were all inland, at the edges of swamps when founded. Ratchaburi remains an important commercial centre, however. Archeological discoveries show that the area was already settled in the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, and the town itself is known to have existed for at least two thousand years.
In the 13th-century, King
Ram Khamhaeng
Ramkhamhaeng (, ) or commonly known as Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng Maharat (, ) was the third king of the Phra Ruang Dynasty, ruling the Sukhothai Kingdom (a historical kingdom of Thailand) from 1279 to 1298, during its most prosperous era.
He is c ...
seized Ratchaburi and incorporated it into the
Sukhothai Kingdom
The Sukhothai Kingdom was a post-classical Siamese kingdom (Mandala (political model), ''maṇḍala'') in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thaila ...
. Later it was an important trade centre in the
Ayutthaya Kingdom
The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...
. In 1768 the
Burmese (who had recently destroyed Ayutthaya) were thrown out of Ratchaburi by
King Taksin
King Taksin the Great (, , ) or the King of Thonburi (, ; ; Teochew dialect, Teochew: Dên Chao; 17 April 1734 – 7 April 1782) was the only King of Thailand, king of the Thonburi Kingdom that ruled Thailand from 1767 to 1782. He had been an ar ...
, and the town became part of
Siam.
In 2000, a splinter group of
Karen activists from Burma, known as
God's Army, briefly took the Ratchaburi hospital staff and patients hostage, before the siege was ended by the Thai army.
Climate
References
External links
*
*
City of Ratchaburi
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Thailand
Populated places in Ratchaburi province