| Phitsanulok | |
| Native Name: | พิษณุโลก |
| Native Name Lang: | th |
| Other Name: | Song Khwae • สองแคว |
| Settlement Type: | City Municipality |
| Official Name: | Phitsanulok city เทศบาลนครพิษณุโลก |
| Pushpin Map: |
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| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Thailand##Location within the Asia##Location within Earth |
| Coordinates: | 16.8158°N 100.2636°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Thailand |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name1: | Phitsanulok |
| Subdivision Name2: | Mueang Phitsanulok District |
| Government Type: | City municipality |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Premruadee Charmpoonod |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 18.26 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 777 |
| Elevation M: | 51 |
| Population Total: | 62,584 |
| Population As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Urban: | 281,929 |
| Population Density Metro Km2: | auto |
| Population Rank: | 10th (Urban) |
| Timezone1: | ICT |
| Utc Offset1: | +7:00 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 65000 |
| Area Code Type: | Calling code |
| Area Code: | (+66) 55 |
| Geocode: | 650101 |
| Blank1 Name: | Chief roadway |
| Blank1 Info: | Route 12 |
| Blank2 Name: | Chief watercourse |
| Blank2 Info: | Nan River |
| Blank3 Name: | Chief airport |
| Blank3 Info: | Phitsanulok Airport |
Phitsanulok (Thai: พิษณุโลก, in Thai pronounced as /pʰít.sā.nú.lôːk/) is a city in Northern Thailand, the capital of Phitsanulok province and the tenth-largest city in Thailand. It is 360 km (223.69 mi) north of Bangkok and has a population of 281,929 people as of 2021. The city was founded in the 13th century under the name Song Khwae and represents one of the oldest cities in Thailand.
See main article: History of Phitsanulok Province. Phitsanulok is one of the oldest cities in Thailand, founded over 600 years ago. Phitsanulok was also a provincial center of the Khmer Empire during the Angkorian period.[2]
Phitsanulok was originally named "Song Khwae" (lit. "Two Rivers") as it used to be situated between the Nan and Khwae Noi Rivers, although the Khwae Noi River now drains into the Nan River ten kilometers to the north of Phitsanulok. The Northern Chronicles credited the foundation of Song Khwae to "King Srithampidok" or King Thammaracha I of Sukhothai, on the east bank of Nan River. King Thammaracha I also constructed the Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat and cast famous Buddha images of Phra Buddha Chinnarat and Phra Buddha Chinnasri. Song Khwae eclipsed Sukhothai in importance, becoming the royal seat of Sukhothai Kingdom in 1378. After the demise of the last King of Sukhothai at Song Khwae in 1438, Prince Ramesuan of Ayutthaya came to rule Song Khwae. When Prince Ramesuan was crowned as King Trailokanat of Ayutthaya in 1448, Song Khwae and the Sukhothai Kingdom were incorporated into the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
During the Ayutthaya-Lanna War, King Trailokanat moved his residence to Song Khwae in 1464 and renamed the city "Phitsanulok" (from Sanskrit Vishnu and Loka "world"). He expanded the city westward[3] to the west bank of Nan River. In the sixteenth century, Phitsanulok was the seat of Uparaja or heir presumptive to Ayutthaya throne who took residence in the Chantana Palace on the west bank. In 1548, King Maha Chakkraphat appointed his supporter Phra Pirenthorathep as "King Thammaracha" of Phitsanulok as a tributary ruler. During the Burmese-Siamese Wars, Phitsanulok and the Sukhothai region became battlegrounds between Burma and Siam. When King Bayinnaung invaded Phitsanulok in 1563, King Thammaracha of Phitsanulok submitted to the Burmese.
King Thammaracha, now reigned at Ayutthaya, appointed his son Prince Naresuan as the Uparaja of Phitsanulok in 1570. In 1584, Prince Naresuan ordered the evacuation of all cities in the Sukhothai region including Phitsanulok down south in preparations against Burmese invasions. Phitsanulok was abandoned until it was later restored in 1593 not as a Uparaja seat but as a Muang Ek or first-level city held by a governor, becoming the center of Siamese administrations in northern regions. The governors of Phitsanulok held the title "Chao Phraya Surasi". After the Second Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, Phitsanulok came under the rule of Chao Phra Fang, a monk who declared himself a local lord based on the town of Fang (modern Uttaradit). King Taksin of Thonburi sent forces to capture Phitsanulok in 1768 and appointed Boonma (later Prince Maha Sura Singhanat) as Chao Phraya Surasi the governor of Phitsanulok.
The Burmese General Maha Thiha Thura laid siege on Phitsanulok in 1775. Chao Phraya Chakri (future King Rama I) and his brother Chao Phraya Surasi Boonma held the city for four months until the city finally fell to the Burmese. Phitsanulok was utterly destroyed on this occasion. The Burmese invaded again in 1785 and Phitsanulok was abandoned temporarily because the manpower shortage left the city defenseless. After the series of warfare, Phitsanulok was in ruins and depopulated through the nineteenth century. The Phra Buddha Chinnasri image was moved to Wat Baworn Niwet in Bangkok in 1829. In 1834, the Phuan people were deported from Muang Phuan in Laos[4] to re-populate Phitsanulok and surrounding cities. Phitsanulok slowly recovered to be an urban center.
As a part of reforms of King Chulalongkorn, Phitsanulok became the administrative seat of the monthon Phitsanulok in 1894. When the monthons were abolished in 1932, Phitsanulok became the capital of Phitsanulok Province.
Phitsanulok is in the north of Thailand. Phitsanulok is about 377 kilometres north of Bangkok by road. Phitsanulok covers some 777 square kilometres and borders Uttaradit and Laos to the north, and Loei and Phetchabun to the northeast. The south is adjacent to Phichit while the west is adjacent to Kamphaeng Phet Province and Sukhothai.Phitsanulok has many waterfalls, forests and caves. In the north is central area. In the north-west is a highland. It's the important recreational area such as Kaeng Sopha waterfall, Phu Hin Rong Kla and Phu Soi Dow. In the south plains along the Yom River and the Nan River is the most important agricultural district of Phitsanulok.
Phitsanulok lies primarily on flatland with some hills.[7] The eastern portion of the city has some wooded area. The city is in the Nan Basin, which is part of the Chao Phraya watershed.[8] Phitsanulok is sometimes called Song Kwae, the city of two rivers, a name dating to a time centuries ago when the Nan and Khwae Noi Rivers met near the city. Today, only the Nan River flows through Phitsanulok.
Phitsanulok has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). Winters are dry and very warm. Temperatures rise until April, which is very hot with the average daily maximum at 37.4°C. The monsoon season runs from May through October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm.
The administration of Phitsanulok City Municipality is responsible for an area that covers approximately 18.26km² and consists of only tambon Nai Mueang with 62,584 people and 37,507 households.[9]
According to Municipal Act B.E. 2496 (1953, reviewed in 2003), the duties of the municipality include: clean water supply, waste and sewage disposal, communicable disease control, public training and education, public hospitals and electricity. The mayor, or the highest executive, is directly elected by the eligible voters in the municipal area. The mayor serves a four-year term and is assisted by no more than four deputy mayors appointed directly by the mayor. The Municipal Council is the legislative body of the municipality. It has the power to issue ordinances by laws, that do not contradict the laws of the country. The municipal council's jurisdiction applies to all people living in the municipal area.The majority ethnicity in the city is Thai. Others in the city consider themselves of Mon descent.
The majority of residents of Phitsanulok speak central Thai.
The people of Phitsanulok are predominantly Theravada Buddhists (as are 95% of the Thai population as a whole), with a small Christian community and a few Muslim families.
Naresuan University (abbreviated Mor Nor for Mahawithayalai Naresuan) is an educational center of the lower northern region of Thailand. Now in Tha Pho, near the city of Phitsanulok, the university was named after King Naresuan the Great, and the campus features a large statue of him. Other universities and colleges in or around the city include Phitsanulok University (private), Sirindhorn College of Public Health, Rajabhat Pibulsongkram University (formerly a teacher training college), and the Phitsanulok campus of the Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna.
There are three vocational colleges in the city:
Phitsanulok City is home to three secondary institutions:
There is one government hospital in Phitsanulok City: Buddhachinaraj Phitsanulok Hospital with 1,000 beds.
There are also five private hospitals with 400 beds total:
Close to the city center (Aranyik), Phitsanulok Airport receives up to six flights a day from Bangkok (flight time approximately 60 minutes), which are operated by three airlines: Nok Air, Thai Air Asia and Thai Lion Air.
Road 126, a multi-lane by-pass enables through-traffic to avoid the city of Phitsanulok, and connects to highway 11 to Uttaradit and Lampang in the north, and to highway 12 to Phetchabun in the east, and to highway 11 to Sing Buri in the south, and to highway 117 to Nakhon Sawan in the south, and to highway 12 to Sukhothai, Tak and Mae Sot in the west.
Phitsanulok Terminal 1 (Saen Phon Phai) and Terminal 2 (Samo Khae) provide the mass transport throughout Phitsanulok Province by some eight bus companies. Four minibus lines provide transportation around the city. Yanyon tour operates its own private bus station (Sua Thim) with only a busline to Bangkok.
In the city center, Phitsanulok railway station mainly receives intercity trains on the Northern Line, operated by State Railway of Thailand, more than a dozen trains running in each direction each day.
The main channels for communication in the city are television and radio. The following public television and radio stations[11] are broadcast from Phitsanulok:
Phitsanulok is home to the Third Army Region of the Royal Thai Army, responsible for the northern and north-western parts of the kingdom.
See main article: Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahatat Woramahawihan.
Phitsanulok's main tourist attraction is Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat, known locally simply as Wat Yai (Thai: วัดใหญ่) (the big temple). This famous temple, built in 1357, is home to the Phra Buddha Chinnarat, which is one of the most revered Buddha figures in Thailand, and the official symbol of Phitsanulok Province. The beautiful mother-of-pearl inlaid doors were built in 1756 by order of King Boromakot of Ayutthaya. The Buddha Chinnarat National Museum, on the temple grounds, houses a sizeable collection of Sukhothai period art.
The city is also home to the following temples where Theravada Buddhism is practiced by city residents (from north clockwise):
Dragon boat racing has historically been an important element of Phitsanulok culture. In recent times, football (soccer) has become increasingly popular. In 2005, Phitsanulok won the 2nd Northern Youth Football Championship in the U12 and U15 age groups.[13]
Traditional Thai boxing is also a major sport in the city.
Phitsanulok is home to a number of historic sculptures of the Buddha and other religious artwork including the Buddha Chinnarat, the Buddha Chinnasi, the Phra Si Satsada.
Examples of important literary works of Phitsanulok include:
The predominant literary language (as well as the predominant spoken language) is the central Thai dialect of the Thai language, which is written in the Thai alphabet.