Krabi is a southern province on Thailand's
Andaman seaboard with perhaps the country's oldest history of continued settlement.
After dating stone tools, ancient coloured pictures, beads, pottery and skeletal
remains found in the province's many cliffs and caves, it is thought that
Krabi has been home to homo sapiens since the period 25,000 - 35,000 B.C.
In recorded times it was called the 'Ban Thai Samor', and was one of twelve
towns that used, before people were widely literate, the monkey for their
standard. At that time, c. 1200 A.D., Krabi was tributary to the Kingdom of
Ligor, a city on the Kra Peninsula's east coast better known today as Nakhon
Si Thammarat.
At
the start of the Rattanakosin period, about 200 years ago, when the capital
was finally settled at Bangkok, an elephant kraal was established in Krabi
by order of Chao Phraya Nakorn (Noi), the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat,
which was by then a part of the Thai Kingdom. He sent his vizier, the Phra
Palad, to oversee this task, which was to ensure a regular supply of elephants
for the larger town. So followers many emigrated in the steps of the Phra
Palad that soon Krabi had a large community in three different boroughs :
Pakasai, Khlong Pon, and Pak Lao. In 1872, King Chulalongkorn graciously elevated
these to town status, called Krabi, a word that preserves in its meaning the
monkey symbolism of the old standard. The town's first governor was Luang
Thep Sena, though it continued a while as a dependency of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
This was changed in 1875, when Krabi was raised to a fourth-level town in
the old system of Thai government. Administrators then reported directly to
the central government in Bangkok, and Krabi's history as a unique entity
separated from the other provinces, had begun.
During the present
reign, the corps of civil servants, the merchants, and the population generally
of Krabi and nearby provinces have together organized construction of a royal
residence at Laem Hang Nak Cape for presentation to His Majesty the King.
This lies thirty kilometers to the west of Krabi Town on the Andaman coast.
Administration
Krabi is divided into eight districts : Amphoe Muang (Krabi Town), Khao Panom,
Khlong Thom, Plai Phraya, Ko Lanta, Ao Luk, and Lam Thap and, Nhua Khlong.
Size,
Location and Boundaries
Krabi is on the Andaman Sea coast of south-west Thailand, between 7' 30"
and 8' 30" north latitude, and 98' 30" and 99' 30" west longitude.
Total area is 4,709 square kilometers bounded thus :
North : Connects with Phang-nga and Sura Thani Provinces.
South : Connects with Trang Provinces and the Andaman Sea.
East : Connects with Trang and Nakhon Si Thammarat Provinces.
West : Connects with Phang-nga Provinces and the Andaman Sea.
Population
Krabi's estimated population, as of September 1999, is 344,610
Geography
Krabi's mountainous physical geography is broken by highlands and plains on
the mainland.The provincial administration also covers more than 130 islands
in the Andaman Sea. Natural forest cover is chiefly mangrove and Cassia trees.
Krabi's sandy clay soil conditions are perfect for a variety of agricultural
products, including rubber trees, palms, mangos, coconuts, and coffee. The Krabi
River flows 5 kilometers through the city and falls into the Andaman at Tambon
Pak Nam. There are other streams as well : the Khlong Pakasai, the Khlong Krabi
Yai and the Khlong Krabi Noi in the province's highest range of mountains, the
Khao Phanom Bencha.
Climate
Weather in Krabi is typically that of the tropical monsoon, providing the province
with just two seasons, the hot season from January to April, and the rainy season
from May to December. Monsoon winds, which change according to season, blow
from the southeast, the southwest, and the northeast. Temperatures range between
16.9 and 37.3 degrees Celsius and the yearly rainfall averages 2,568.5 millimeters.



 |

© 2001
Phuket Budget Tour Ltd.; all rights reserved.
100/511 Chalermprakiat Rama 9 Road, T.Ratsada,
Muang, Phuket 83000 , Thailand
Tel.: (66-76) 261271 | Fax: (66-76) 261273
E-mail : info@phuketbudget.com
Skype : phuket.budget.tour
MSN : phuket.budget.tour@hotmail.com
|
 |