History
Chanthaburi has been long inhabited, with neolithic artifacts having been discovered in the region.
Chong was the first Mon-Khmer hunting-gathering community to have settled in the eastern forests in what are now Chanthaburi, Trat and Rayong provinces in ca. 13th century A.D. The first settlement in Chanthaburi was near Khao Sa Bap. The forest area, especially on the boundary between Chanthaburi and Trat, was abundant in herbs and forest products such as gamboge, lac, wax, cardamom, eaglewood, rattan, cinnamon, etc. Deforestation for cultivation as well as habitation by Thai and Chinese people has shrunken the forest. Hunting and gathering has been made illegal, so the hunter-gatherers were forced to change their lifestyle and become urban labourers or farmers. Most of the âChongâ now live at Ban Khlong Phlu in Amphoe Khao Khitchakut.
A new city was established in 1657 A.D. at Ban Lum on the west bank of the Chanthaburi River. At the fall of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya in 1767 A.D., King Taksin the Great, then Phraya Wachiraprakan, led a troop of some 500 soldiers to break through and head eastward to occupy Chanthaburi. He took 5 months to store foodstuffs and recruit a troop of 5,000 Thai and Chinese soldiers to regain the independence of the kingdom. Monuments and memorials built to commemorate the historic event well reflect the pride of the people of Chanthaburi.
The city was relocated to the highlands at Ban Noen Wong in the reign of King Rama III to prevent a Vietnamese invasion, but due to its far distance from water sources was moved back to Ban Lum in the reign of King Rama V. Chanthaburi used to be occupied by France for 11 years in a Thai â French dispute. Thailand had to surrender its territory on the left bank of the Mekong River to France in return for Chanthaburi, which was later established as a province in 1933.
