Suwannaphum district
district in Roi Et province, Thailand
Suwannaphum (Thai: สุวรรณภูมิ, pronounced [sù.wān.nā.pʰūːm]; Northeastern Thai: สุวรรณภูมิ, pronounced [sȕ.wân.nā.pʰûːm]) is a district (amphoe) of Roi Et province, in eastern Thailand. It is named after the legendary country of Suvarnabhumi, which according to Thai tradition was on the Chao Phraya plain. It was the seat of a small Lao mandala kingdom until the Laotian Rebellion of 1826-1829 ended vestiges of Lao independence west of the Mekong.
History
In 1718, the first Lao muang in the Chi valley—and indeed anywhere in the interior of the Khorat Plateau—was founded as Suwannaphum (in latter-day Roi Et Province) by an official in the service of King Nokasad of the Kingdom of Champasak, leading some 3,000 subjects.
Geography
The district is in southern Roi Et Province. Neighboring districts are (from the west clockwise): Kaset Wisai, Mueang Suang, At Samat, Phanom Phrai, Nong Hi, and Moei Wadi of Roi Et Province, and Rattanaburi and Tha Tum of Surin province.
Administration
The district is divided into 15 sub-districts (tambons), which are further subdivided into 195 villages (mubans). Suwannaphum itself has township (thesaban tambon) status and covers part of tambon Sa Khu. Each of the tambons is administered by a tambon administrative organization.
“Suwannaphum district” enters the record as district in Roi Et province, Thailand. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Suwannaphum, district and province can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Suwannaphum district” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Suwannaphum, district and province provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q476791. Authority coordinates are 15.609, 103.800. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1826, 1829 and 1718.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Suwannaphum district”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Suwannaphum district primary sources, Suwannaphum district archive and Suwannaphum research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Suwannaphum district”?
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- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Suwannaphum district” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.