Nakhon Si Thammarat
The town of Nakhon Si Thammarat, rich in traditions, is located 780 km (485 mi.) south of Bangkok on the Malaysian Peninsula, whose east coast lies only a few miles away. The mountains, covered with lush vegetation, climb
gently from the fertile coastal plain to the 1835 m (6020 ft)-high summit of the chalk massif Khao Luang. Fruit growing and mining brought wealth to the town, while the Niello technique, which attained the heights of perfection here, made it into a center of the Thai craft industry. Its long past gives Nakhon Si Thammarat an air of venerable superiority.
By car: from Bangkok highways 35/4/41/401; from Surat Thani either south or first east along the coast.
By rail: from Bangkok-Hualampong two trains daily directly to and from Nakhon Si Thammarat (832 km (517 mi.), about 14 hours); otherwise to Thung Song, then change.
By bus: from Krabi, Surat Thani, and Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal.
The town once bore the Malaysian name of Ligor and has always been an important station on the trade route between Europe, Africa, India and China. During the first centuries ad Nakhon Si Thammarat is supposed to have been the chief town of a Tambralinga (Tampaling) principality, which survived until around 1360. It is certain that Nakhon Si Thammarat evolved in the 8th c. ad under the sovereignty of the Srivijaya kingdom, which encompassed Sumatra and large parts of the Malaysian Peninsula. A stone tablet from this time reports that around the year 775 the king of Srivijaya and Buddhist monks built a temple, in which the teachings of Mahayana-Buddhism would be disseminated. Towards the end of the 10th c. a prince of Tambralinga conquered the Mon kingdom of Lopburi, which already belonged to the Khmer empire, and declared himself king of Angkor Wat under the name of Suryavarman. In 1292 King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothal conquered Tambralinga; like the kingdom of Sukhothai it then became, in the second half of the 14th c., first a vassal state and subsequently part of the kingdom of Ayutthaya.
King Rama Thibodi II (1491-1529) permitted the Portuguese to found a trading settlement in Ligor in 1516. When Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, the Tambralinga principality became independent again for a short time, until King Taksin, the immediate predecessor of the present reigning Chakri dynasty, assimilated it into his newly-founded kingdom.
Nakhon Si Thammarat played an important role in art; a number of well-known artists, famous for the special quality of their depictions of Buddha (Nakhon Si Thammarat School), came from here.
The town originally adjoined the sea (now 26 km (16 mi.) away), its main street following the coastline. It has now expanded across its northern border (fortification site) and the old town, containing the majority of the sights, has virtually become a suburb. Restored ruins of the town wall can be found in the center of the old town.
The niello technique has enjoyed a long tradition in Nakhon Si Thammarat. It probably originated in China and first became native to Thailand in this town. Even now the most artistic pieces of work are said to come from Nakhon Si Thammarat. The niello technique involves carving a drawing into a piece of metal (mostly silver) and filling it in with a melted black alloy. Many of the town's shops sell niello tins, little boxes, ashtrays and pieces of jewelry.
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