Samut Prakan สมุทรปราการ |
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Province | ||
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Map of Thailand highlighting Samut Prakan Province |
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Country | Thailand | |
Capital | Mueang Samut Prakan | |
Government | ||
• Governor | Chatchai Uthaiphan (since October 2016) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 1,004.1 km2 (387.7 sq mi) | |
Area rank | Ranked 70th | |
Population (2014) | ||
• Total | 1,261,530 | |
• Rank | Ranked 18th | |
• Density rank | Ranked 3rd | |
Time zone | ICT (UTC+7) | |
ISO 3166 code | TH-11 | |
Website | www |
Samut Prakan (Thai: สมุทรปราการ, pronounced [sāmùt prāːkāːn]) is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand, established by the , which came into force 9 March 1946.
It is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Neighbouring provinces are Bangkok, to the north and west, and Chachoengsao to the east.
Suvarnabhumi Airport is in the Bang Phli District of Samut Prakan Province.
The province was created during the Ayutthaya period, with its administrative centre at Prapadaeng. It was the sea port of Siam, and was secured with forts, town moats, and town walls. King Rama II started the building of the new centre at Samut Prakan in 1819, after his predecessor King Taksin had abandoned the town fortifications. Altogether six forts were built on both sides of the Chao Phraya River, and on an island in the river the pagoda, Phra Samut Chedi, was erected. These were involved in the Paknam incident of 13 July 1893, which ended the Franco-Siamese War with a French naval blockade of Bangkok. Of the original six forts only two still exist today, Phi Sua Samut and Phra Chulachomklao.
In Thai the word samut is from Sanskrit, samudra, meaning "ocean" or "sea", and the word prakan is from Sanskrit, prākāra, meaning "fortress", "walls", or "stronghold".