 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 |
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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
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| known
today
as Nakhon
Si Thammarat.At
the start
of the
Rattanakosin
period,
about
200 years
ago, when
the capital
was finally
settled
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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
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| 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.
Population
Krabi's
estimated
population,
as
of
September
1999,
is
344,610.
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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. |
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Climate
Weather
in Krabi
is typically
that of
the tropical
monsoon,
providing
the province
with just
two seasons,
the hot
season,
and the
rainy
season.
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.
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