Baby's Home Town

We found out our baby is not in Songkhla after all. She is in another orphanage about 2 hours north of Songkhla called Si Thammarat Home for Boys in Nakhon Si Thammarat. In Thai, the town is spelled: นครศรีธรรมราช.

Nakhon Si Thammarat  is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand, at the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from south clockwise) Songkhla ,Phatthalung, Trang, Krabi and Surat Thani.The name of the province derives from its Pali-Sanskrit name Nagara Sri Dhammaraja (City of the Sacred Dharma King), or Bandar Sri Raja Dharma(Jawi: بندر سري راج ضارم) in Malay, which in Thai pronunciation becomes Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Capital:	Nakhon Si Thammarat
Area:	9,942.5 km² Ranked 18th
Inhabitants:	1,519,811 (2000) Ranked 5th
Pop. density:	153 inh./km² Ranked 21st
ISO 3166-2:	TH-80
Governor:	Phanu Uthairat (since 2008)

NST is one of Southern Thailand's best kept secrets. It is about 5-6 hours drive from the popular beach towns of Krabi and Phuket. Nakhon is alive with a vibrant mixture of Buddist and Islamic cultures and a rich historical ambience. Nakhon also has fewer tourist than nearby cities, so the local people are particulary friendly and excited to introduce guests. One of Thailand's most ancient and revered temples and the spiritual heart of Nakhon Sri thammarat, is Wat Pramahathat. It is the largest temple in Southern Thailand and it is believed to contain relics of The Buddha brought to Thailand by Queen Hem Chala of Sri Lanka, more than a thousand years ago. Wat Pramahatat is considered by historians to be the birthplace of Thai Theravada Buddhism.

Near to the temple is the Kiriwong community, nestled in the jungle and mountains of Kao Luang National park. There are many local groups there that make fruit wine, jewelry, soap, cosmetics and tie dye clothing - all using only natural, environmentally friendly materials.

A little history on a special place. The place where our child was born!