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 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 was called the |
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'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 known today
as Nakhon Si Thammarat.At
the start of the Rattanakosin
period, about 200 years ago,
when the capital was finally
settled 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 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.
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 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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