Buriram Province

Buriram is one of the northeastern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from south clockwise) Sa Kaeo, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham, and Surin. To the southeast it borders Oddar Meancheay of Cambodia. The name Buriram means city of happiness.

Geography

Buriram is at the south end of the Khorat Plateau, with several extinct volcanoes around the province. The southern limit of the province is a mountainous area at the limit between the Sankamphaeng Range and the Dângrêk Mountains.

History

About a thousand years ago, the area that makes up today's Buriram Province was under the Khmer Empire and many ruins remain from that time. The largest, standing on an extinct volcano, is in the Phanom Rung historical park. According to an inscription found there, its local ruler recognised the authority of the Khmer king. However, the area was remote and sparsely populated, and little is recorded about it until it the Bangkok Period of Thai history. In the early nineteenth century, Muang Pae, the largest town, acknowledged Thai sovereignty and was renamed Buriram. Following administrative reforms in the late nineteenth century, Buriram was formally incorporated into Thailand as a province with its own governor.

Culture

Festivals

Aside from important religious days, Songkran Day and New Year's Day, Buriram also has other local festivals such as the festival of the 5th lunar month ( someone please tell the western world when the fifth lunar month occurs. I see the same paragraph in many travel descriptions.) when the locals make merit, bathe Buddha images and senior people, perform traditional sports such as Saba and tug of war. In some areas like Amphoe Phutthaisong, there is the Bang Fai traditional rocket dance, Khao Phansa, at the beginning of Buddhist Lent and Loy Krathong.