Maha Sarakham (มหาสารคาม) is the capital city of Maha Sarakham province in

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 ...

's northeastern (

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan language, Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thai ...

) region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is in a rice-growing area on the southern Khorat plain, straddling the

Chi River The Chi River (, , ; , ) is the longest river flowing wholly within Thailand. It is long but carries less water than the second longest river, the Mun. The name of the river is "Mae Si" () in the Isan and Lao languages of the region, being tra ...

. Mahasarakham is 475 km northeast of Bangkok and 73 km southeast of Khon Kaen. The city has long been known as a regional education centre, the so-called "

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

of Isan" (taking this name from the ancient Hindu centre of learning). It is home to six colleges, as well as Mahasarakham University (MSU) and Maha Sarakham Rajabhat University. Sarakham has the feel of a student town with the younger, more cosmopolitan population much in evidence in the downtown campus area and near MSU's second campus seven kilometres away at Kham Riang. For a time Mahasarakham ranked with

Sisaket Sisaket (, , ; Northern Khmer dialect, Northern Khmer: ) is a Thesaban#Town municipality, town municipality in Isan, northeast Thailand, incorporating Mueang Nuea and Mueang Tai Subdistricts and parts of Cham, Nong Khrok, Pho, Phon kha, and Ya P ...

as among the poorest cities in Isan. This is changing, partly under the influence of the rapidly growing student population. Today Maha Sarakham possesses two cinemas, a modern department store and market, and branches of major retailers. There has been extensive building, especially on the eastern fringes of the city. Maha Sarakham has no railway station or airport, and the main transport links are via express bus, or by road connections to the airports in

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen (, ) is the capital of Khon Kaen province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fourth-largest city in Thailand. It is one of the four major cities of Isan, Northeast Thailand, also known as the ...

and Roi Et. Recently the road link south was upgraded and is now mainly dual carriageway highway.

Climate

References

External links

* {{coord, 16, 10, 38, N, 103, 18, 3, E, type:city(40000)_region:TH, display=title Populated places in Maha Sarakham province Cities and towns in Thailand Isan