Samut Prakan

Samut Prakan, a central Thai province on the Gulf of Thailand, sits just south of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. On the river’s east bank is the Ancient City, a sprawling outdoor museum with scaled-down replicas of historic temples, old cities and palaces. Upriver, a huge, triple-headed elephant statue crowns the Erawan Museum, which has fine arts displays and religious relics.The province was created during the era of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, with its administrative centre at Prapadaeng. It was the sea port of Siam, and was secured with forts, town moats, and town walls. King Rama II started building the new centre at Samut Prakan in 1819, after his predecessor King Taksin had abandoned the town fortifications. Altogether six forts were built on both sides of the Chao Phraya River, and on an island in the river the pagoda, Phra Samut Chedi, was erected.