Bang Phli (, ) is a district (amphoe) of Samut Prakan province in Thailand. It is home to Suvarnabhumi Airport (also called (New) Bangkok International Airport), which opened on 28 September 2006 as Thailand's primary airport. The district was part of the once-proposed Nakhon Suvarnabhumi Province.

History

Bang Phli appeared as evidence that it has been a habitat since the Khmer era (around 435–1158), because many areas around it are names that are derived from Khmer such as Thap Nang, Nam Daeng, Bang Chalong etc. The Khlong Samrong canal, which is long, flows through the area and is considered a main watercourse.

Rattanakosin's renowned poet Sunthorn Phu wrote about Khlong Samrong in his work "Nirat Mueang Klaeng" during a visit to his father in Rayong Province. When he arrived here and impressed with the young people that take a boat pass through.

In the reign of King Rama III, Bang Phli became a community where more people came to live, consisting of a variety of people, such as Laotians, Mons with Teochews and Hainanese. Most Chinese have a career in trading and building houses along the waterfront. Therefore, causing Bang Phli to prosper respectively and raised the status to a district in 1895.

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||1.||Bang Phli Yai||บางพลีใหญ่||23||91,678

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||2.||Bang Kaeo||บางแก้ว||16||54,634

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||3.||Bang Pla||บางปลา||15||32,751

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||4.||Bang Chalong||บางโฉลง||11||41,834

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||8.||Racha Thewa||ราชาเทวะ||15||29,602

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||9.||Nong Prue||หนองปรือ||3||2,719

|}

<small>The missing geocodes in the table are now form Bang Sao Thong district.</small>

Economy

Bang Phli is home to a number of manufacturing companies including Plan Toys; lingerie company, Triumph International; auto parts maker, Yarnphan; Surf Technicians Inc.; windsurfing equipment design company, Natural Corporation; chemical manufacturer, Hanwha Chemical alkali soluble resin (ASR) and emulsion plant; furniture manufacturer, Rockworth;, Hino Motors, and a Nivea cosmetics production plant. The first IKEA store in Thailand opened at Mega Bangna on the Bang Na-Bang Pakong Highway in Bang Kaeo in late-2011.

Festivals

Bang Phli is known for its annual Lotus Flower (Rap Bua) Festival, which takes place on the last day of vassa on the fourteenth day of the waxing moon in the eleventh lunar month, usually the full moon in October. A boat carrying a replica of the Luang Poh To Buddha statue from the temple Wat Bang Pli Yai Nai is moved along the Khlong Samrong canal. The people on the banks of the canal throw lotus flowers onto the boat, as donating lotus flowers to Buddha is merit-making.

Attractions

  • Bang Phli floating market or Ancient Bang Phli market: an authentic market over 100 years old which still remains the same. It is located on the bank of Khlong Samrong. It was one of the flourishing communities in the past. It is assumed that Chinese opened this market in 1857 to transport goods and people from the east coast to Bangkok. What is interesting about the market are traditional wooden shophouses lined along the Khlong Samrong with a length of 500&nbsp;m (1640&nbsp;ft). They were built with Thai mixed Chinese architectures two-storey hipped roof.
  • Thai-Chinese International School is in Bang Phli Yai

References