Maha Sarakham
มหาสารคาม | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Motto: เมืองน่าอยู่ คู่การศึกษา พัฒนาองค์กร คุณภาพชีวิต เศรษฐกิจและสังคม อย่างยั่งยืน | |
  Maha Sarakham Location in Thailand | |
| Coordinates: 16°10′38″N 103°18′3″E / 16.17722°N 103.30083°E | |
| Country | Thailand |
| Province | Maha Sarakham |
| District | Mueang Maha Sarakham |
| Subdistrict | Talat |
| Founded | 1936 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Thesaban |
| • Mayor | Kittisak Khanasawas |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.32 sq mi (24.14 km2) |
| Population (2012) | |
• Total | 40,154 |
| • Metro density | 4,308.1/sq mi (1,663.38/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+7 (ICT) |
| Postal code | 44000 |
Maha Sarakham is the capital city of Maha Sarakham province in Thailand's northeastern (Isan) region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is in a rice-growing area on the southern Khorat plain, straddling the Chi River. Mahasarakham is 475 km northeast of Bangkok and 73 km southeast of Khon Kaen.
The city has long been known as a regional education centre, the so-called "Taxila of Isan" (taking this name from the ancient Hindu centre of learning).[1] It is home to six colleges, as well as Mahasarakham University (MSU) and Maha Sarakham Rajabhat University. Sarakham has the feel of a student town with the younger, more cosmopolitan population much in evidence in the downtown campus area and near MSU's second campus seven kilometres away at Kham Riang.[2]
For a time Mahasarakham ranked with Sisaket as among the poorest cities in Isan. This is changing, partly under the influence of the rapidly growing student population. Today Maha Sarakham possesses two cinemas, a modern department store and market, and branches of major retailers. There has been extensive building, especially on the eastern fringes of the city.[citation needed]
Maha Sarakham has no railway station or airport, and the main transport links are via express bus, or by road connections to the airports in Khon Kaen and Roi Et. Recently the road link south was upgraded and is now mainly dual carriageway highway.[citation needed]
- ^ "Maha Sarakham". Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ DaGrossa, P (2003). "Chapter 2. Mahasarakham, The Education Province". The Meanings of Sex: University Students in north-east Thailand (Dissertation). Honolulu: University of Hawaii. Retrieved 25 June 2015.