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Sakon Nakhon

สกลนคร
Sakon Nakhon สกลนคร
Province
	(Clockwise from top left) Nong Han, Phu Pha Yon National Park, Phra That Choeng Chum and Wat Phra That Choeng Chum, Phu Phan Mountains, Historic building in Ban Tha Rae, View of Nam Un Dam
	Flag Seal
	Nickname: Sakon (Thai: สกล)
	Motto(s): พระธาตุเชิงชุมคู่บ้าน พระตำหนักภูพานคู่เมือง งามลือเลื่องหนองหาน แลตระการปราสาทผึ้ง สวยสุดซึ้งสาวภูไท ถิ่นมั่นในพุทธธรรม ; ("Home of Phra That Choeng Chum. Home of Phu Phan Palace. The famous Nong Han lake. Fascinating Prasat Phueng. Beautiful Phu Thai women. The lands strong in Buddhism and Dharma.")
	Map of Thailand highlighting Sakon Nakhon province
Country	Thailand
Capital	Sakon Nakhon
Government
• Governor	Chusak Ruying; (since June 2024)
Area
• Total	9,580 km2 (3,700 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 19th
Population (2019)
• Total	1,153,390
• Rank	Ranked 18th
• Density	121/km2 (310/sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 40th
Human Achievement Index
• HAI (2022)	0.6292 "somewhat low"; Ranked 54th
GDP
• Total	baht 56 billion; (US$1.9 billion) (2019)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)
Postal code	47xxx
Calling code	042
ISO 3166 code	TH-47
Vehicle registration	สกลนคร
Website	www.sakonnakhon.go.th

Sakon Nakhon (Thai: สกลนคร, pronounced [sā.kōn ná(ʔ).kʰɔ̄ːn]; Northeastern Thai: สกลนคร, pronounced [sā.kōn nà(ʔ).kʰɔ᷇ːn]) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat). It lies in upper northeastern Thailand and is also called Isan. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Kalasin, and Udon Thani. Its capital is Sakon Nakhon.

Toponymy

The word sakon originates from the Sanskrit word sakala (Devanagari: सकल) meaning 'entire', 'whole', or 'total', and the word nakhon from Sanskrit nagara (Devanagari: नगर) meaning 'town' or 'city'. Hence the name of the province literally means "city of cities".

Geography

The province is on the Khorat Plateau, not far from the Mekong. The Nong Han lake, the biggest natural lake of northeast Thailand, near the city of Sakon Nakhon, is a popular resort. The Phu Phan Mountains delimit the province to the south. The total forest area is 1,692 km² (653 sq mi) or 17.7 percent of provincial area.^[1]

National parks

There are three national parks, along with four other national parks, make up region 10 (Udon Thani) of Thailand's protected areas.

Phu Pha Yon National Park, 829 km² (320 sq mi)^[5]^: 57
Phu Phan National Park, 665 km² (257 sq mi)^[5]^: 7
Phu Pha Lek National Park, 404 km² (156 sq mi)^[5]^: 118

History

The history of Sakon Nakhon dates back to about three thousand years. Local legend says that Mueang Nong Han Luang, or presently Sakhon Nakhon, was built in the 11th century when the Khmer ruled this region. When the Khmer lost its power, the town was under the rule of Lan Xang or Lao Kingdom. It was renamed into "Mueang Chiang Mai Nong Han". When the town was under Siam, it was renamed again into "Sakhon Thawapi" in 1830, during King Rama III's reign, it was renamed "Sakon Nakhon".

Phu Phan Mountains in the area of Sakon Nakhon, especially Sawang Daen Din district, formerly a stronghold of the Communist Party of Thailand.^[6]

Ethnic group

The Ethnic group of Sakon Nakhon are Chinese and Vietnamese with Tai Dam as well as Nyaw.^[7]^[6]

Symbols

The provincial seal shows the Phrathat Choeng Chum, a Lao-style chedi built during the Ayutthaya period over a Khmer-style prang.

The provincial tree is the banaba or Queen's Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia speciosa). Black sharkminnow (Labeo chrysophekadion) is the provincial fish.^[8]

Economy

Fish and rice are two of the major products of the region.^[7]

Kho Khun Pon Yang Kham is branded as Thailand's best-quality beef, produced by Pon Yang Kham Breeding Cooperatives, which was incorporated in 1980 in Ban Pon Yang Kham in Mueang Sankhon Nakhon. It has created a great reputation for the province. Kho Khun Pon Yang Kham is regarded as "Thai Kobe beef".^[9]

Transportation

Rail

Sakon Nakhon does not have a train service yet. People who want to travel to Sakon Nakhon by train can get off at Udon Thani Railway Station in neighboring province Udon Thani. Then take a local bus to Sakon Nakhon, the distance is approximately 156 km.

Roads

Route 22 leads north to Udon Thani, 160 km distant, and east to Nakhon Phanom (91 km) and the border with Laos. Route 223 leads south to That Phanom (76 km). Route 213 leads west to Kalasin (131 km).^{[citation needed]}

Air

There is a regional airport, Sakon Nakhon Airport, on the north side of the city.^[10]

Health

Sakon Nakhon's main hospital is Sakon Nakhon Hospital, operated by the Ministry of Public Health.

Administrative divisions

Provincial government

The province is divided into 18 districts (amphoes). The districts are further divided into 125 subdistricts (tambons) and 1,323 villages (mubans).

Local government

As of 26 November 2019 there are:^[11] one Sakon Nakhon Provincial Administration Organisation (ongkan borihan suan changwat) and 66 municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. Sakon Nakhon has city (thesaban nakhon) status. Further 65 subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal areas are administered by 74 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations - SAO (ongkan borihan suan tambon).^[2]

Human achievement index 2022

Health	Education	Employment	Income

38	72	43	70
Housing	Family	Transport	Participation

11	8	29	55
Province Sakon Nakhon, with an HAI 2022 value of 0.6292 is "somewhat low", occupies place 54 in the ranking.

Since 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at sub-national level using the Human achievement index (HAI), a composite index covering all the eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.^[3]

Rank	Classification
1 - 13	"high"
14 - 29	"somewhat high"
30 - 45	"average"
46 - 61	"somewhat low"
62 - 77	"low"

Map with provinces and HAI 2022 rankings

Important places

Sakon Nakhon is a location of many important places, apart from Nong Han and Phu Phan Mountains, include

Events and festivals

Prasat Pueng Procession: held during the 12th-15th day of waxing moon in October to mark the end of Buddhist Lent. On the night of 13thday, people will join hands in decoration Prasat Pueng (wax castle) at Ming Mueang Field. The 14thday, wax castel from various temples will join the procession, roaming the municipality to Wat Phra That Choeng Chum. Isan people believe that the wax will welcome Buddha who comes back from the heaven to help all creatures on earth.
Regatta: held synchronically with the Prasat Pueng Procession, the ancient regatta will be held at Phang Thong Pond or Tha Nang Ap, Ban Tha Wat.
Tha Rae Star Procession: is a tradition unique to the world and has been held annually during Christmas Eve since 1982, the celebrations and procession will take place at Ban Tha Rae, home to Thailand's largest Roman Catholic community, in Mueang Sakhon Nakhon.^[12]

Notable people

Born in Sakhon Nakhon

Dusit Chalermsan: professional footballer, football coach
Suree Sukha: professional footballer
Surat Sukha: professional footballer
Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool: professional footballer
Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym: a world-class professional boxer

Gallery

3,000-year-old petroglyphs at Phu Pha Yon National Park
Sakon Nakhon City Gate
Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University
Wax Castle Procession

References

^ ^a ^b "ตารางที่ 2 พี้นที่ป่าไม้ แยกรายจังหวัด พ.ศ.2562" [Table 2 Forest area Separate province year 2019]. Royal Forest Department (in Thai). 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2021, information, Forest statistics Year 2019, Thailand boundary from Department of Provincial Administration in 2013{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ ^a ^b รายงานสถิติจำนวนประชากรและบ้านประจำปี พ.ส.2562 [Statistics, population and house statistics for the year 2019]. Registration Office Department of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior. stat.bora.dopa.go.th (in Thai). 31 December 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b "ข้อมูลสถิติดัชนีความก้าวหน้าของคน ปี 2565 (PDF)" [Human Achievement Index Databook year 2022 (PDF)]. Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) (in Thai). Retrieved 12 March 2024, page 70{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ "Gross Regional and Provincial Product, 2019 Edition". <>. Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). July 2019. ISSN 1686-0799. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "ข้อมูลพื้นที่อุทยานแห่งชาติ ที่ประกาศในราชกิจจานุบกษา 133 แห่ง" [National Park Area Information published in the 133 Government Gazettes]. Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (in Thai). December 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Lyovarin, Win (1997). ประชาธิปไตยบนเส้นขนาน [Democracy, Shaken and Stirred] (in Thai). Bangkok: Dok Ya. pp. 255–256. ISBN 9748585476.
^ ^a ^b "จังหวัดสกลนคร เตรียมจัดงานมหกรรมภูมิปัญญาพื้นบ้านมูนมังอีสาน ครั้งที่ 11 ภายใต้ชื่อ "ข้าว ปลา ป่า เกลือ"" [Sakon Nakhon preparing to organize the 11th Moonmang-Isan Folklore Festival under the title "Rice, Salt, Wild, Fish"]. NNT (in Thai). 2020-01-10. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
^ admin (2015-06-08). "สัตว์น้ำประจำจังหวัดสกลนคร" [Provincial aquatic animal]. Charoensinsuka "Phokham's Memorial" School (in Thai). Retrieved 2020-04-22.
^ Chantanusornsiri, Wichit (2018-08-23). "The Kobe beef of Isan takes off". Bangkokpost. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
^ "Sakon Nakhon Airport". OurAirports. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
^ "Number of local government organizations by province". dla.go.th. Department of Local Administration (DLA). 26 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019. 56 Sakon Nakhon: 1 PAO, 1 City mun., 65 Subdistrict mun., 74 SAO.
^ Svasti, Pichaya (2017-12-21). "Christmas Star parades". Bangkokpost. Retrieved 2020-04-22.