Nakhon Ratchasima - History

History

Archeological evidence suggests that there were two ancient towns that later became named Sema and Nakhon Raj which currently are in Sung Noen district, 32 km west of present-day Nakhonratchasima (Korat). Nakhon means capital, Raj means kingdom or state in Sanskrit. See also Bai Sema.

Prior to the fourteenth century, the area of Nakhon Ratchasima was under the Khmer empire suzerainty (known in Khmer as Nokor Reach Seyma / Nokor Reach Borei, and Koreach) while another town to the north, Phimai, was likely more important.

Narai, king of the Ayutthaya from 1656 to 1688, ordered a new city built, to serve as a stronghold on Ayutthaya's northeastern frontier. Nakhon Ratchasima was subsequently mentioned in Siamese chronicles and legal documents as a 'second - class' city of the kingdom. A governor was named to rule the city as a dynasty.

In the aftermath of the final phase of the Ayutthaya kingdom that had ended with its complete destruction by the Burmese in 1767, a son of King Boromakot, attempted to set himself up the ruler of Phimai holding sway over Korat and other eastern provinces. King Taksin of the successor Thonburi Kingdom (1768–1782) sent two of his generals, the brothers Thong Duang and Boonma to defeat the prince, who was then executed in 1768. Thong Duang became King Rama I of the kingdom in 1782, and Korat became his strategic stronghold on the northeastern frontier supervising Lao and Khmer tributary states.

In 1826, Vientiane King Chao Anouvong perceiving Siam as weakened, attacked Korat in the Laotian Rebellion against King Rama III that was to rage on for two years. Lady Mo, the wife of the deputy governor at the time, is credited with having freed the city from Anouvong's army, and has been honored with a statue in the center of downtown Korat. The old, walled town east of the monument was designed and built by a French engineer who is believed to be the one who also built Naraimaharaj Palace in Lopburi. The French-based design is reflected in the moat system that surrounds the innermost portion of the city.

Nakhon Ratchasima continued to be an important political and economic center in the northeastern region under the Monthon administrative reforms of the late nineteenth century. In November 1900, the Royal State Railways of Siam began operation of the Nakhon Ratchasima Line from Bangkok with Korat Station as its terminus. The Ubon Ratchathani Line to the town of Warin opened 1 November 1922. The Thanon Chira Junction to Khon Kaen opened on 1 April 1933. Korat station was changed to Nakhon Ratchasima Railway Station in 1934.

In October 1933, after the Siamese revolution of 1932 had ended the absolute monarchy, the city became the headquarters of the Boworadet Rebellion, an abortive uprising against the new government in Bangkok.

In April 1981 during another attempted coup, the government, together with the royal family, took refuge in Korat.

From 1962 - 1976, during the Vietnam War, Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base hosted the components of the Royal Thai Air Force, the United States Air Force, and a complement of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). After the US withdrawal in 1976, the Thai Air Force assumed full control. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the airfield was jointly operated as a civil airport for Nakhon Ratchasima. This was ended with the opening of Nakhon Ratchasima Airport in the early 1990s.