Sung Noen district

Sung Noen (, ; , ) is a district (amphoe) in the western part of Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand. It contains Mueang Sema, one of the largest moated towns of the Khorat Plateau and a major site of the Dvaravati period. An old town in the district has also been identified with Mueang Rat, the seat of Pha Mueang, though the identification is disputed.

History The literal translation of Sung Noen is 'high hills', as the area has two high (sung) hills (noen) beside a pond, and has never been flooded. Sung Noen was the location of two ancient cities, Mueang Sema and Khorakha (Khorat) Pura.Pali púra became Sanskrit puri, hence Thai บุรี, บูรี () all connoting the same as Thai mueang: city with defensive wall

Mueang Sema, on the Lam Ta Khong in the Mun system, covers over 150 ha and is one of the two largest moated settlements of the Khorat Plateau. Its excavator assigned the earliest phase, of the 4th and 5th centuries, to late prehistory. The second, of the 6th to 9th, was assigned to the Dvaravati period, and the third, of the 9th to 12th, to a time of growing Khmer influence. Stephen A. Murphy disputes the first of those labels. Pottery from the earliest layers recurs at Chan Sen in the central plain and develops there into a common Dvaravati type, and the site has no earlier prehistoric levels at all. Finds from the site include a dhammacakra and an 11-metre sandstone Buddha in the reclining mahāparinirvāṇa posture. Only seventeen sema stones are recorded there, all of them plain or badly worn and none carved with narrative scenes, which Murphy sets against the size and standing of the town. A few still stand where they were placed, around a Dvaravati structure that may have been an ordination hall. The dhammacakra is the only one known from the whole of the Khorat Plateau, against more than forty recorded in central Thailand. Murphy holds that apart from Mueang Sema it is hard to make a case for a strong or meaningful political presence of Dvaravati overlords on the plateau.

A survey by Sujit Wongthes describes villages ringing the town, each centred on a temple. They held Dvaravati Buddha images and Lopburi-style door posts, and alignments of standing stones lie at Ban Hin Tang. He read an earthen dam across the Huai Krok Chanuan and a set of canals as irrigation works. He put the reclining Buddha at up to 12 metres and reported a view that it was first a standing image that later fell.

The old town at Sung Noen has been identified with Mueang Rat, the seat of Pha Mueang, one of the founders of the Sukhothai Kingdom. The identification is disputed. Sujit Wongthes, reviewing the proposals in 1983, found the location of Mueang Rat unsettled. Besides Sung Noen they include the present city of Nakhon Ratchasima and sites in Phitsanulok and Uttaradit provinces.

When the Northeastern railway was finished in 1901, the village of Ban Sung Noen grew around it, and the government raised Sung Noen to district status.

Geography Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Dan Khun Thot, Kham Thale So, Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima, Pak Thong Chai, Wang Nam Khiao and Sikhio.

Administration

Central administration Sung Noen is divided into 11 subdistricts (tambons), which are further subdivided into 127 administrative villages (mubans).

No. Name Thai Villages Pop.1.Sung Noen1519,6622.Sema169,2123.Khorat82,6154.Bung Khilek134,4345.Non Kha84,9716.Khong Yang82,6337.Makluea Kao2012,6858.Makluea Mai128,0009.Na Klang96,49410.Nong Takai126,96111.Kut Chik64,716

Local administration There are two subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambons) in the district: Kut Chik (Thai: ) consisting of parts of subdistricts Na Klang, Kut Chik. Sung Noen (Thai: ) consisting of parts of subdistrict Sung Noen.

There are 11 subdistrict administrative organizations (SAO) in the district: Sung Noen (Thai: ) consisting of parts of subdistrict Sung Noen. Sema (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Sema. Khorat (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Khorat. Bung Khilek (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Bung Khilek. Non Kha (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Non Kha. Khong Yang (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Khong Yang. Makluea Kao (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Makluea Kao. Makluea Mai (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Makluea Mai. Na Klang (Thai: ) consisting of parts of Na Klang. Nong Takai (Thai: ) consisting of subdistrict Nong Takai. Kut Chik (Thai: ) consisting of parts of subdistrict Kut Chik.

Sung Noen district

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