Chachoengsao ( th, ฉะเชิงเทรา, ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat''), located in

eastern Thailand Eastern Thailand is a region of Thailand bordering Cambodia on the east, Northeastern Thailand in the north, and central Thailand on the west. Geography Eastern Thailand lies between the Sankamphaeng Range, which forms a natural border with t ...

History

''Chachoengsao'' or ''Paet Riu'' ('eight stripes') is a province in

. It has a history dating back to the reign of King Borommatrailokkanat in the mid-

Ayutthaya period The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is consid ...

. People originally settled by the Bang Pakong River and along

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

s. Chachoengsao, Paet Rio, has a history dating back to the reign of King Borommatrailokkanat in the Ayutthaya period. Most people have settled by the Bang Pakong River and along canals. "Luangpho Phuttha Sothon" is a centre of faith of the people of Paet Rio. In the past, Chachoengsao was a fourth class city under the ministry of defence. During the reign of King Rama I, it was attached to the ministry of the interior. During the reign of King Rama V, who changed the administration system, Chachoengsao became a city in the Prachin Buri Circle. In 1916, its status was changed from a city to a province. "Chacheongsao" is a Chong word which means "deep canal". The name "Paet Rio" comes from the story that the city once teemed with giant snakehead fish; up to eight cuts were required on the sides in the making of sun-dried fish.

Geography

Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise)

Prachinburi Prachinburi ( th, ปราจีนบุรี, , ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, capital of Prachinburi Province. It covers the entire tambon Na Mueang of the Mueang Prachinburi District (city district). As of 2000, the ...

, Sa Kaeo,

Chanthaburi Chanthaburi ( th, จันทบุรี, ) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in the east of Thailand, on the banks of the Chanthaburi River. It is the capital of the Chanthaburi Province and the Mueang Chanthaburi District. The town covers ...

Chonburi Chonburi ( th, ชลบุรี, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and Mueang Chonburi District in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Bangkok, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Its name means 'city of water'. Cho ...

, Samut Prakan,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populati ...

Pathum Thani Pathum Thani ( th, ปทุมธานี, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, directly north of Bangkok. It is the capital of the Pathum Thani province, Thailand as well as the Mueang Pathum Thani district. As of 2005, it ...

, and Nakhon Nayok. It has a short coastline on the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in le ...

. The western part of the province is the low river plain of the Bang Pa Kong River, which is used extensively for farming

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. To the east is hillier terrain, with an average elevation of more than 100 metres. In Tha Takiap District is the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary with an area of 674,352 rai ~ . The total forest area in the province is or 15.5 percent of provincial area.

Economy

The province has gained a reputation as a centre for recycling potentially hazardous electronic waste (e-waste), despite a June 2018 ban on imports of foreign e-waste to Thailand. China banned the import of foreign e-waste in 2018 also. Since the e-waste ban, 28 new recycling factories, most dealing with e-waste, have started in Chachoengsao province, particularly in the Ko Khanun Subdistrict of Phanom Sarakham District. In 2019, 14 businesses in Chachoengsao were granted licenses to process electronic waste, six of them in Ko Khanun. An official of the Basel Action Network, which campaigns against dumping waste in poor countries, said, "E-waste has to go somewhere, and the Chinese are simply moving their entire operations to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. The only way to make money is to get huge volume with cheap, illegal labour and pollute the hell out of the environment," he added.

Symbols

The provincial seal shows the main hall of the Sothornvararamvoraviharn Temple. In this hall is the most important

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

image of the province, known as ''Luangpho Phutthasothon''. The provincial tree is ''

Peltophorum dasyrachis ''Peltophorum'' is a genus of 5–15 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The genus is native to certain tropical regions across the world. The species are medium-sized to large trees growing up to 15– ...

''. The tree was assigned to the province by Queen

Sirikit Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born '' Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was Queen of Thailand as the wi ...

on the 50th anniversary of the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of o ...

of 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 ...

in 2000. The provincial flower is the

Yellow Flamboyant ''Peltophorum pterocarpum'' (commonly known as copperpod, yellow-flamboyant, yellow flametree, yellow poinciana or yellow-flame) is a species of ''Peltophorum'', native to tropical southeastern Asia and a popular ornamental tree grown around the ...

(''Peltophorum pterocarpum''). The provincial fish is the barramundi (''Lates calcarifer''). The provincial slogan is "The bountiful Bang Pakong River, the sacred Buddha image of Luangpho Sothon, Phraya Si Sunthon the scholar of Thai language, and the pristine Ang Rue Nai Forest."

Administrative divisions

Provincial government

The province is divided into 11 districts ('' amphoes''). These are further divided into 93 subdistricts (''

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 '' khwaen ...

s'') and 859 villages ('' mubans'').

Local government

As of 26 November 2019 there are: one Chachoengsao Provincial Administration Organisation (') and 34 municipal (''thesaban'') areas in the province. Chachoengsao has town ('' thesaban mueang'') status. Further 33 subdistrict municipalities ('' thesaban tambon''). The non-municipal areas are administered by 74 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations - SAO (''ongkan borihan suan tambon'').

Health

Chachoengsao's main hospital is Buddhasothorn Hospital, operated by the Ministry of Public Health.

Transport

Chachoengsao's main rail stop is

Chachoengsao Junction railway station Chachoengsao Junction station ( th, สถานีชุมทางฉะเชิงเทรา, ) is a railway station in eastern Thailand on the State Railway of Thailand's Eastern Line. In Na Mueang Sub-district, Mueang Chachoengsao Dist ...

Religion

Human Achievement Index 2017

Since 2003, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at the sub-national level using the

Human Achievement Index Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

(HAI), a composite index covering eight key areas of human development. The

National Economic and Social Development Board The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council ( th, สำนักงานสภาพัฒนาการเศรษฐกิจและสังคมแห่งชาติ), also known as NESDC, is a national economi ...

(NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.

References

External links

*
Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University
{{Authority control Provinces of Thailand Gulf of Thailand