Activities

Rafting along the Phetchaburi River (ล่องแก่งแม่น้ำเพชรบุรี) is an exciting adventure through the Kaeng Krachan National Park. The trip from Phetchaburi to the starting point takes 3 hours by 4-wheel drive truck and the raft trip takes some 5 hours passing a verdant forest and a Karen hilltribe village.

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Local Products

Phetchaburi is famous for a vast variety of sweets. The reputation of these sweets stems from the use of Tanot (palm) sugar as some of their ingredients. Examples are Mo-kaeng, a sweet made from flour, sugar and eggs; A-lua and Sampanni, a sweet made from flour and sugar; Thong Yip, Thong Yot and Foi Thong, sweets made from baked egg-yolk; and Chao Tan Chueam (palm seed in thick syrup). Khao Chae (rice served with ice and sweetened meat) is a renowned local dish and is popular during the summer season as it cools you down. Khanomchin Thotman (rice noodles with fishcakes) is also a popular dish. Fruits are found in every season. Phetchaburi’s famous fruits are sweet and aromatic rose apples known as Chomphu Phet, fresh palm seeds, pineapples from Don Khun Huai, cantaloupes and gold bananas from Amphoe Tha Yang.

Traditional

Thai Song Dam Festival (ประเพณีไทยทรงดำ) The festival is held annually on April 18 at Song Dam Village, Khao Yoi district. Apart from a merit-making ceremony, folk plays and the authentic cuisine of Thai Song Dam villagers are also on offer. Many villagers wear their traditional costumes.

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Hat Chao Samran

Hat Chao Samran (หาดเจ้าสำราญ) Legend says that King Naresuan the Great and King Eka Thotsarot made several royal visits here and highly appreciated its beauty. The villagers thus rendered it a name "Hat Chao Samran", which means “Beach of Royal Leisure”.

Hat Puek Tian

Hat Puek Tian (หาดปึกเตียน) This wide and long beach is popular among Thai tourists. The most prominent landmark is a huge statue of a female giant standing in the sea.

Kaeng Krachan National Park

Kaeng Krachan National Park (อุทยานแห่งชาติแก่งกระจาน) This is the most extensive national park of Thailand and still largely unexplored. It was declared a national park on June 12, 1981, with clearly defined areas for a reservoir and year round green jungle in the Tanaosri Ranges, which are the origins of many rivers.

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Wat Yai Suwannaram

Wat Yai Suwannaram (วัดใหญ่สุวรรณาราม) The main shrine hall has no windows. It contains 300-year-old mural paintings of mythical angels. The hall also houses a preaching throne with intricate woodcarvings and gold gilt works of Bangkok design.

Wat Kamphaeng Laeng

Wat Kamphaeng Laeng (วัดกำแพงแลง) This temple was originally a Khmer place of worship. It was later turned into a Buddhist temple and a shrine hall was constructed. However, the outlook of the place has not much changed due to the existence of sandstone walls and four Khmer style pagodas.

Phra Ram Ratchaniwet

Phra Ram Ratchaniwet (พระรามราชนิเวศน์) This palace of European architectural style is originally called "Wang Ban Puen". King Rama V commanded it built as a rainy season palace in 1916. It was used to welcome and accommodate state visitors during the reign of King Rama VI.

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Hat Cha-am

Hat Cha-am (หาดชะอำ) Appearing to have been frozen in time warp, midway between remaining a Thai-style resort, and modernising to meet international tastes and requirements, this extensive pine-fringed beach is considered to be one of the most popular beaches of Thailand.

Maruekhathaiyawan Palace

Maruekhathaiyawan Palace (พระราชนิเวศน์มฤคทายวัน) This beachside wooden palace was formerly used as a royal summer residence by King Rama VI during the 1920s. Facing the open sea, the palace is referred to as the palace of love and hope”.

Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park

Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park (อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์พระนครคีรี) This covers a hilly area with an old palace and historical temples in the vicinity of the town. It consists of royal halls, temples and groups of buildings, constructed mostly in harmonious Thai, Western neoclassic and Chinese architectural styles.

Wat Mahathat Worawihan

Wat Mahathat Worawihan (วัดมหาธาตุวรวิหาร)There is a five-topped pagoda constructed in accordance with the Mahayana concept housing Lord Buddha’s relics. The stucco designs decorated on the viharn and the ubosot reflect the excellent skill of local craftsmen.

Phetchaburi Province

Phetchaburi Province

Phetchaburi (often short Phet'buri, Thai: เพชรบุรี) is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram and Prachuap Khiri Khan. In the west it borders Tanintharyi Division of Myanmar.

Phetchaburi เพชรบุรี
Statistics

Capital: Phetchaburi town
Area: 6,225.1 km²Ranked 36th
Inhabitants: 435,377 (2000)Ranked 58th
Pop. density: 70 inh./km²Ranked 68th
ISO 3166-2: TH-76
Governor: Chai Phanitchaphonphan(since 2008)

Map

Geography
Phetchaburi is located at the northern end of the Malay Peninsula, with the Gulf of Thailand to the East and the Tanaosi mountain range forming the boundary to Myanmar. Except these border mountains most of the province is a flat plain area. With an area of about 3000 km² the Kaeng Krachan National Park is Thailands largest national park, covering nearly half of the province. It protects mostly rainforests in the mountains along the boundary to Myanmar, but also the Kaeng Krachan reservoir is part of the park. The only significant river of the province is the Phetchaburi River.

Several caves are found in the province, most notable the Khao Luang caves near the capital city. Illuminated by a hole in the roof several Buddha statues are placed in the cave.

History
Phetchaburi is an old royal city, dating back to the Mon of the 8th century. Later Khmer settled in the city, as can be seen by the prangs of Wat Kamphaeng Laeng.

Im 1860 King Mongkut built a palace near the city of Phetchaburi, commonly known as Khao Wang, but its official name is Phra Nakhon Khiri. Next to the palace the king built a tower for his astronomical observations. On the adjoining hill is the royal temple Wat Phra Kaeo.

Administrative divisions

The province is subdivided into 8 districts (amphoe), which are further subdivided into 93 communes (tambon) and 681 villages (muban).

Mueang Phetchaburi
Khao Yoi
Nong Ya Plong
Cha-am
Tha Yang
Ban Lat
Ban Laem
Kaeng Krachan

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