Tak

Encircled by mountains and forests, Tak is a peaceful northern Thailand province located on the Maenam Ping basin. The province occupies for 16,406.6 square kilometers and consists of 8 Amphoes including Muang, Mae Ramat, Ban Tak, Mae Sot, Sam Ngao, Pho Phra, Tha Song Yang and Umphang. Its provincial capital, Tak, 426 km from the north of Bangkok, is a gateway to Myanmar and is also the commercial & communication center of Northern Thailand.

Tak was an ancient kingdom established over 2,000 years ago. It has former name “Mueng Rahaeng” and Mon, an ethnic group, is the first to settle here.  Four great kings had their amy stay here and during the Rattanakosin era, Tak was moved from the right to the left side of the Ping River by King Rama II in Tambon Ban Rahaeng and remains up to now.

Once being a strategic military base between Thailand and Burma, nowadays Tak is a crowded center with bustling border markets, natural beauty and ethnic diversity. The province features a lot of spectacular natural attractions, including many national parks with unspoiled forest, picturesque scenery and exotic wildlife, such as Mae Moei National Park, Taksin Maharat National Park, Namtok Pha Charoen National Park and Lan Sang National park.  You can have a picnic here or relax and admire the beautiful landscapes with surrounding mountains and hills, clear streams, shady trees and many picturesque view points. In addition, there are also many rivers and fascinating waterfalls as Namtok Thi Lo Re and Namtok Thi Lo Su, which are the ideal places for adventure lovers to take in intersting activities rafting and swimming, etc.

Beside natural attractions, Tak offers plenty of historical heritage sites as reputed temples and shrines such as Shrine of King Taksin the Great, Wat Phra Boromthat and Ancient Tak City monastery, Wat Don Kaeo temple, Pra-Tad-Baan-Tak Temple, etc. Further more, tourists can have deeper understanding about Cambodia’s culture through the fastivels held annually as Loy Kra Tong Sai, Taksin Maharachanuson Fair and Red Cross Fair and Khuen That Duean Kao Tradition, in which the most popular festival, Loy Kra Tong Sai which is called Kra Tong day. It shows the rich culture and creative religion and it’s the way to remind of dead people because people believe that the death will protect them from evils. There are also many interesting activities taking place during the festival, make it more lively and attractive to tourists.