Officers: prévôtés, bailiwicks, seneschals · Contested ground · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Lord of Chakangrao and Nakhon Chum

On the Ping at this place the legend has two old riverside towns, Chakangrao on the east bank and Nakhon Chum on the west.

The name Kamphaeng Phet ("diamond wall") belongs, we think, to the Sukhothai period or later. In 1200 it is the lower end of the march between the Haripunjaya road and the Khmer-orbit plain of Chaliang and Lavo. No inscription or dated excavation we could reach says who held it.

Who he is

Title
Lord of the Ping towns at Kamphaeng Phet, if any
Since
not known
Born
not known
Family
The Ayutthaya Testimonies (a text of the Ayutthaya period) tell of a king Suryaraja who moved his seat to Vicitraprakara (identified with Kamphaeng Phet) in 1156, and of his son Candraraja who moved on to Sukhothai. A late chronicle; the identification is uncertain.
Confidence
low

English Wikipedia (Kamphaeng Phet).

What it holds

  • Chakangrao and Nakhon Chum on the Ping
  • The river crossing and the road east to Sukhothai and Chaliang

Allies and rivals

Tak and the Ping road to the north; the Chaliang and Sukhothai plain to the east and south.

How things stand that morning

A river-town march with no attested lord.

Wealth

The Ping and the roads.

Military

The later city walls are of the Sukhothai period or after.

Threats

  • None dated

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. After 1238 or about 1243Kamphaeng Phet becomes a frontier stronghold of Sukhothai (English Wikipedia: "ancient outpost town" of the Sukhothai period).Depends on: Sukhothai's rise. Stopped by: Sukhothai's failure.

Places of note

  • Kamphaeng Phet: the twin towns on the Ping

Where the sources disagree

  • English Wikipedia (Sukhothai Kingdom) lists "Suryaraja, grandfather of Si Intharathit, rules Vicitraprakara (Kamphaeng Phet) from about 1157" on the Ayutthaya Testimonies; a late source, not used as a holder.

Evidence: Legend and a late chronicle.

On the map: A contested drawing.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, Kamphaeng Phet (Nakhon Chum and Chakangrao; the 1156 chronicle entry)
  2. Wikipedia, Sukhothai Kingdom (pre-1238 and the Khmer question)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.