Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat is a city municipality in southern Thailand and the capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, about 610 kilometers south of Bangkok on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. It historically served as the administrative center of southern Thailand and traces its settlement back to at least the twelfth century, rising to prominence in the thirteenth century under King Sri Thammasok, who built the Wat Phra Mahathat temple and introduced Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism to the region. Its name, derived from Sanskrit, means the city of the virtuous king. As of 2019 the city had a population of about 102,152 across 22.56 square kilometers.