Central · Thailand
Nonthaburi · นนทบุรี
Greater Bangkok's leafy northern neighbour, Koh Kret pottery island.
- Region
- Central
- Population
- 1,265,000
- Area
- 622 km²
- Stories filed
- 1
About Nonthaburi
History
Nonthaburi was fortified in 1549 as a garrison town upstream from Ayutthaya; its orchards — above all its durian — were considered the finest in the kingdom by every successive royal court. Over the last half-century the province has merged almost seamlessly into Bangkok's northern suburbs, its old shophouse waterfront preserved in pockets while condominiums and universities have taken the paddy fields. The provincial hall, a handsome early-twentieth-century teak building, remains one of the best intact colonial-era public structures in the Bangkok metro area.
Landscape & geography
Nonthaburi hugs the west bank of the Chao Phraya immediately north of Bangkok, flat and crossed by working khlongs. Its signature landmark is Koh Kret — a small alluvial river island still inhabited by the Mon community whose ancestors arrived as Burmese-war refugees in the eighteenth century, famous for unglazed terracotta pottery made on foot-powered wheels. Mango and durian orchards persist near Bang Kruai, though most have yielded to suburban development.
Why visit
Koh Kret is the main draw: a car-free island reached by two-minute ferry from Pak Kret Pier, best on weekends when potters open studios and riverside stalls sell Mon sweets and pomelos from Nonthaburi Pier market. Wat Paramaiyikawat, the island's principal temple, has elegant Mon-style proportions and is rarely crowded. The river-ferry from Bangkok's central piers is an attraction in itself — breezy, cheap, and atmospheric. Durian season (June–August) brings the province's finest fruit to Nonthaburi's market stalls.
Stories from Nonthaburi
Articles, reviews, and itineraries tagged to this province.
