Ko Pha-ngan - TourismThailand.org

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Ko Pha-ngan and Virtues and Meaning
of Royal Visits
In the history of royal visits to various places by Thai kings,
King Chulalongkorn or King Rama V loved to constantly visit his people
in the provinces. He sometimes travelled incognito to create
familiarity with his subjects, to find out their hardships and happiness
on different occasions.
Ko Pha-ngan was one of King Chulalongkorn’s favorite places
of visit. He stopped by the island 14 times during 1888-1909, more
often than any other places he had visited, sometimes on his way to
Malay Peninsula or during his visits to southern provinces such as
Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla. His first visit to Ko Pha-ngan
was made on 31 August, 1888 on his way back from Songkhla. On this
visit, King Chulalongkorn went to a waterfall. He later named it “Than
Sadet Waterfall”, where he came back several times. And as a record
of his visit and a gesture to declare his possession of the land against
the effort of colonization by western people, King Chulalongkorn
inscribed his initials ‘จปร’ [read: jo po ro] on a rock at the waterfall.
Than Sadet Waterfall in 1888 was said to be splendidly beautiful
with unspoiled nature. Today, after 124 years, forest conditions at
Than Sadet are still pristine and considered the most beautiful on
Ko Pha-ngan, although water is not as plentiful in the dry season as it
was in the old days. Its natural charms always remain.
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