Page 64 - Experience Thailand and More

MUKDAHAN

River Pearl

Muk can be translated as pearl, and there are legends telling about
pearls being found in freshwater clams centuries ago at the mouth of
the Huai Muk, or Pearl Stream, when the main settlement was on the
eastern bank of the Mekong. After Lord Chanthakinnaree led his people
across, the community quickly grew and prospered as the river here was
abundant with fish and the land fertile for rice farming. Not long after, it
was incorporated into the circle of Udonthani, then, upgraded to a district
rd
of Nakhon Pathom in 1907 before it became the country’s 73 province
in 1982, just 36 years ago. Since 2006, when the 2 Thai-Lao Friendship
nd
Bridge was opened, this provincial capital has surged to becoming a
vibrant commercial center for trade between Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Mukdahan also marks the eastern frontier of Thailand’s 20 northeastern
provinces, or I-san, this term possibly having its roots in Pali or Sanskrit,
meaning northeast, or it could have been adapted from the name of
the pre-Angkor Khmer kingdom, Chenia’s capital, Isanapura, Isana
an incarnation of the deity Shiva. Whatever the case, Mukdahan is the
home to eight ethnic minorities, including its principal populace, Lao Tai.
Actually, the Thai alphabet is an adaptation of Lao script, possibly carried
along the same route west to Sukhothai, the first Thai capital. Thus, the
traditions are rich and welcomingly shared with all who come.
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