Phitsanulok Province

Phitsanulok is an upper central province of Thailand. It borders Sukhothai and Uttaradit in the north, Loei and Phetchabun in the east, and Phichit and Kamphaeng Phet to the south. In the northeast it has a border with Laos. The name Phitsanulok means “Vishnu’s heavenly world”.
Geography: Much of Phitsanulok province lies in a fertile plain fed by the Nan River and its tributaries which have played a substantial role in the history and development of the region by providing a route for transportation, fertile soil for agriculture, and water for irrigation but to the east there is dense forest. Four important national parks are found here (listed below).
History: While the province was inhabited in Neolithic times, the inhabitants are not the ancestors of modern Thai people. The earliest records show that the present day Phitsanulok was a Khmer outpost in the 11th century called Song Khwae. A century later, Nakhon Thai, located near the centre of the present Phitsanulok Province, was established as the capital city of the Singhanavati Kingdom, an early city-state of Thailand. Later, during Thailand's Sukhothai Period, the city of Phitsanulok emerged as a major city in the east of the Sukhothai Kingdom and great temples emerged. In 1357, the renowned Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat was constructed. During the Ayutthaya Period the city continued to prosper and served for 25 years as the capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. In 1555, King Naresuan the Great was born in the city of Phitsanulok. Naresuan played a significant role in the history of Thailand, as he expanded the kingdom (then called Siam) to its greatest territorial extent, by conquering sizable portions of modern-day Burma and Cambodia. Soon after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 the city lost its influence as the seat of government moved to Bangkok.
Tourism: While Phitsanulok rightly earns the title of ‘The Bead Basket of Thailand’, tourism seems to fly under the radar, despite a millennium of rich history and gorgeous tropical rain forests.