Chumphon (, ) is a southern

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

(''changwat'') of

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 ...

on 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. ...

. Neighbouring provinces are Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surat Thani, and

Ranong Ranong () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong District. The town covers completely the area of the ''tambon'' Khao Niwet (เขานิเวศน์). As of 2024, it had ...

. To the west it borders the Burmese province of

Tanintharyi Tanintharyi may refer to: * Tanintharyi (town) or Taninthayi (known during the British occupation as Tenasserim), a town in Tanintharyi Township, Myeik District, in the Tanintharyi Region of Burma (Myanmar) * Tanintharyi Region, formerly Tenasseri ...

Geography

Chumphon is on the

Isthmus of Kra The Kra Isthmus (, ; ), also called the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailan ...

, the narrow land bridge connecting the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

with the mainland of

. To the west are the hills of the Phuket mountain range and its northern continuation, 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 ...

. The east is coastal plain abutting the

. The main river is the Lang Suan River, which originates in Phato District. With a coastline and 44 islands, the Chumphon Archipelago, Chumphon has waterfalls, peaceful beaches, green forests, mangroves, and rivers. The total forest area is or 21.5 percent of provincial area. Chumphon is regarded as part of ''"Gateway to the South"''.

National parks

There are two national parks, along with nine other national parks, make up region 4 (Surat Thani) of Thailand's protected areas. *

Namtok Ngao National Park Nam tok () is a Thai and Lao word meaning waterfall. It can refer to: *Nam Tok Railway Station, terminus of the Burma Railway *For waterfalls in Thailand see :Waterfalls of Thailand In Thai and Lao cuisine, the term Nam tok is used for: *Nam tok ( ...

, * Mu Ko Chumphon National Park,

Wildlife sanctuaries

There are four wildlife sanctuaries, along with three other wildlife sanctuaries, make up region 4 (Surat Thani) of Thailand's protected areas. * Khuan Mae Yai Mon Wildlife Sanctuary, * Thung Raya–Na Sak Wildlife Sanctuary, * Prince Chumphon South Park Wildlife Sanctuary, * Prince Chumphon North Park (lower) Wildlife Sanctuary,

History

The southern part of the province was originally a separate province named Lang Suan. It was incorporated into Chumphon in 1932. In November 1989 Typhoon Gay hit the province hard: 529 people were killed, 160,000 became homeless, and of farm land was destroyed. ''Gay'' is the only tropical storm on record that reached Thailand with typhoon wind strength. Chumphon province is one of several clandestine way stations on the trafficking trail of Burmese and

Rohingya The Rohingya people (; ; ) are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who predominantly follow Islam from Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Ro ...

s from nearby Burma (Myanmar) being moved south. Chumphon borders the Burmese province of

Toponymy

There are two different theories on the origin of the name "Chumphon". According to one, it originates from ''Chumnumphon'' (lit., 'accumulation of forces') which derives from the fact that Chumphon was a frontier city. Another theory claims the name derives from a local tree named ''Maduea Chumphon'' (มะเดื่อชุมพร, '' Ficus glomerata''), abundant in the province.

Symbols

The provincial seal shows a fortune-bringing thevada on a lotus-pedestal, flanked by two ficus trees. In the background a fort and two watchtowers are visible, a reference to the former camp where courageous warriors from the province gathered before going into battle against the enemy. The provincial flower is the Indian shot (''

Canna indica ''Canna indica'', commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to the Americas and naturalized elsewhere. The edible rhizome ...

''), and the finger

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

is another provincial symbol. Spanner barb (''Barbodes lateristriga'') is the provincial fish.

Administrative divisions

Provincial government

Chumphon is divided into eight districts (''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the Provinces of Thailand, provinces, and are analogous to count ...

s''), 70 sub-districts (''

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 ...

s''), 736 villages (''

muban Muban (; , ) is the lowest Administrative divisions of Thailand, administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet (place), hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74 ...

s'').

Local government

As of 26 November 2019 there are: one Chumphon Provincial Administration Organisation (') and 27 municipal (''thesaban'') areas in the province. Chumphon and Lang Suan have town (''

thesaban mueang Thesaban (, , , Pali: desapāla (protector of region) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' ...

'') status. Further 25 subdistrict municipalities (''

thesaban tambon Thesaban (, , , Pali, Pali: desapāla (protector of region) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesa ...

''). The non-municipal areas are administered by 51 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations - SAO (''ongkan borihan suan tambon'').

Economy

The coffee-growing valley of Ban Panwal in Tha Sae District includes 178,283

rai (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

of robusta coffee plantations. It produces more than 24 million tonnes a year. Chumphon province contributes 60 percent of Thailand's total coffee production. Local brands include Thamsing, ST Chumphon, and Khao Tha-Lu Chumporn. Besides, Chumphon is considered as the province with the second largest

durian The durian () is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognized species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species ...

growing area in the country, after

Chanthaburi Chanthaburi (, ) 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 the two ''tambons'' Talat an ...

. Based on 2017 data, Chumphon has an area of 164,099 rai of durian, with a yield of approximately 128,894 tons, create income for the province of not less than 6,000 million baht a year. There are more farmers grow durian every year. In addition to durian, Chumphon is also famous for its lady finger bananas and

cavendish banana Cavendish bananas are the fruits of one of a number of banana cultivars belonging to the Cavendish subgroup of the List of banana cultivars#AAA Group, AAA banana cultivar group (triploid cultivars of ''Musa acuminata''). The same term is also use ...

s. They are registered as GI products. The cavendish banana products are exported to Japan as much as 20 tons a week. Chumphon is considered the province with the most GI products in the south, with a total of five products.

Human achievement index 2022

Since 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at sub-national level using the Human achievement index (HAI), a composite index covering all the eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.

Transportation

Air

Chumphon Airport Chumphon Airport is in Tambon Chum Kho, Amphoe Pathio, Chumphon province in Southern Thailand. The airport is north of downtown Chumphon. Airlines and destinations Overview In 2008 the airport reopened after nine years of closure. The ai ...

is north of Chumphon city in Pathio District. It has direct daily flights to Bangkok's

Don Mueang Airport Don Mueang International Airport — known as Bangkok International Airport before 2006 — is one of two international airports serving Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the other being Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). The airport is considered ...

(DMK). Flights from Bangkok are around 60 minutes.

Nok Air Nok Airlines plc, trading as Nok Air (; , from [] meaning 'bird') is a low-cost airline in Thailand operating mostly domestic services from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport. History Nok Air was established in February 2004 as Sky A ...

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 ...

operates flights between Bangkok ( Don Mueang, DMK) and

(CJM). The airport has transit agents for onward travel to

Chumphon Chumphon (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Chumphon Province and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers (288 miles) from Bangkok. As of 2018 it had a population of around 33,600. The t ...

and the islands of the

including Ko Tao, Ko Pha Ngan, 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 ...

Rail

Chumphon Railway Station is a main station of Chumphon, it is south of

Bangkok Railway Station Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) railway station (, ) is a list of railway stations in Thailand, railway station in Pathum Wan district, Pathum Wan, the former central station, central passenger terminal in Bangkok and the former railway hub of Thailand. ...

(Hua Lamphong). Chumphon is also the location of 26 other railway stations and railway halts. Lang Suan Railway Station in area of Lang Suan District is the last stop of the Southern Railway that starts from Thon Buri Railway Station (Bangkok Noi).

Road

Chumphon is south of Bangkok by Petchkasem Road (Highway 4) via Pathom Phon Intersection before entering the Chumphon city, takes about 7 hours to travel. Can travel to here by bus from both Southern Bus (Taling Chan) and Northern Bus Terminals (Mo Chit 2).

Tourism

In the first 11 months of 2015, Chumphon arrivals grew by 17 percent to 1.86 million and tourism revenue by 21 percent to 7.55 billion baht. Average hotel occupancy rose to 65 percent from 53 percent in 2014. Arrivals are expected to grow by 17 percent in 2016.

Beaches

Chumphon has a long coastline. *Hat Thung Wua Laen: a beach northeast of downtown Chumphon. Food and accommodation resorts and food stalls abound in the beach area. Thung Wua Laen is from the train station of Chumphon and from Chumphon airport in Pathiu. *Hat Saphli: about from Hat Thung Wua Laen, it is a crescent-shaped beach with white sand. This beach was ranked as the cleanest beach in the country by the Pollution Control Department in 2017. There is a fishing village named ''Ban Tha Samet'', a large community that is known for making

shrimp paste Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a Fermentation, fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed Shrimp and prawn as food, shrimp or krill mixed ...

and fish sauce. Sairee Beach - panoramio

*Hat Sai Ri: This beach has fine white sand and clear water. It is also the location of shrine of Prince

Abhakara Kiartivongse Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, Prince of Chumphon Province, Chumphon (19 December 1880 – 19 May 1923) (, , full title: ), was the 28th child of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). He was commonly revered as "The Father of the Royal Thai Navy, ...

, Prince of Chumphon, who was regarded as the "Father of the Royal Thai Navy". Nearby is the HTMS ''Chumphon'', a torpedo boat. It is and . Hat Sai Ri and Prince of Chumphon Shrine are in Na Cha-ang Subdistrict, Mueang Chumphon District.

Gallery

File:Mu Ko Chumphon National Park 03.jpg, Ko Rangkachio, Mu Ko Chumphon National Park file:Thung Wua Laen beach - Chumphon.jpg, Thung Wua Laen Beach file:Thung-Wua-Laen Beach (หาดทุ่งวัวแล่น) - panoramio.jpg, Another corner of Thung Wua Laen Beach file:Hat Sai Ri, Mueang Chumphon District, Chumphon, Thailand - panoramio (1).jpg, Prince of Chumphon Shrine at Hat Sai Ri file:Hat Sai Ri, Mueang Chumphon District, Chumphon, Thailand - panoramio (5).jpg, Thai nameplate of Hat Sai Ri, it states that ''"once upon a time at Hat Sai Ri, Chumphon"'' File:The Extraordinary Coconut Tree in Ko Tao - Chumphon, Thailand.jpg, The Extraordinary Coconut Tree in Ko Tao

Notable personalities

* Baitong Jareerat Petsom (b. 1993) - Environmental advocate, scriptwriter, host, director and beauty pageant titleholder won as Miss Earth - Fire 2021 * Sopita Tanasan, Weightlifter

References

External links

*
Official homepage
(Thai & English) *https://www.vanlifetribe.com/thung-wua-laen-beach-thailand/ {{Authority control Provinces of Thailand Southern Thailand Kra Isthmus Gulf of Thailand