Nong Han Kumphawapi Lake
Encyclopedia
Nong Han Kumphawapi is a lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Northeast Thailand
Isan
Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...

, located north of the town Kumphawapi, Kumphawapi district
Amphoe Kumphawapi
Kumphawapi is a district in the southern part of Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand.- Etymology : is from Sanskrit pitcher, water-pot, as reflected in the name of February, associated with the zodiac sign of Aquarius. is from Sanskrit pond, synonymous with หนองนํ้า, บึง...

, Udon Thani Province
Udon Thani Province
Udon Thani is one of the north-eastern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Khon Kaen, Nong Bua Lamphu and Loei.- Geography :...

.

The lake is very shallow, mostly not exceeding a depth of 1 meter. The open water area of 1.7 km² is surrounded by a wetland covering 4.1 km², including rice paddies.

In 2001 the lake was declared a wetland of international importance by the Thai government.

Etymology

Nong means swamp, bog or fen. Because this one lies within the area of Amphoe Kumphawapi
Amphoe Kumphawapi
Kumphawapi is a district in the southern part of Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand.- Etymology : is from Sanskrit pitcher, water-pot, as reflected in the name of February, associated with the zodiac sign of Aquarius. is from Sanskrit pond, synonymous with หนองนํ้า, บึง...

, it is also called Nong Han Kumphawapi. Han means goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....

, Kumpha is Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...

 for Water Pitcher, the Hindu zodiac name for the sign of Aquarius; -wapi is Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 for pond.

Folklore

From the very beginning Nong Han played a part in the story of Phadaeng & Nang Ai. In summary, Nang Ai was the daughter of King Kom who ruled the country of Chathida. The beauty of Nang Ai was famed far and wide — and Deep. Many very much desired a royal wedding with her, and not all were men.
Amongst the many who would wed Nang Ai were Prince Phadaeng, a man from another land, and Prince Pangkhii, who had wed Nang Ai in former lives but in this one was the son of Phaya Nak, the Grand Nāga who rules the Deeps
Deeps
The Deeps is the English term for the Hebrew Tehom , found in the opening verses of the Book of Genesis. It is believed by Biblical scholars to come from the Sumerian word Tiamat, the name given to the Salt Water, and means "The Mother of All Life", , a title similar to one that, in the Bible, was...

. So many suitors desired to wed Nang Ai that her father staged a Rocket Festival
Rocket Festival
A Rocket Festival is a merit-making ceremony traditionally practiced by Ethnic Lao people throughout much of northeast Thailand and Laos, by numerous villages and municipalities near the beginning of the rainy season...

 competition, the winner to enjoy a royal wedding. But hopes were dashed when only rockets of her uncles make it aloft, and her father calls the whole thing off. Naga Prince Pangkhii shape-shift
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...

s into a white squirrel to spy on Nang Ai, but she espies him and has him killed by a royal hunter. Pangkhii's flesh magically transforms into meat equal to 8,000 cartloads (a metric cartload is 2,000 litres). Nang Ai and many of her countrymen ate of this tainted flesh, and Phaya Nak vowed to allow no one to remain living who had eaten of the flesh of his son. Aroused from the Deeps, he and his watery myrmidons rise and turn the land into a vast swamp — of which this very Nong Han is a remnant. See them fleeing at the Ancient Siam Garden of Pha Daeng-Nang Ai.

External links

Krungsri Documentary (in Thai)
Story of Phadaeng and Nang Ai (in Thai)


|title= Holocene Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction Based on Microfossil Analysis of a Lake Sediment Core, Nong Han Kumphawapi, Udon Thani, Northeast Thailand|author= Penny, Dan; Grindrod, John; Bishop, Paul
|last=
|first=
|authorlink=
|coauthors=
|date=
|year= 1996
|month=
|work= Asian Perspectives, 1996 - Volume 35, Number 2 (Fall)
|publisher= University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu)
|pages=
|doi=
|archiveurl=
|archivedate=
|quote= Pollen, phytolith, and charcoal analyses are presented for a Holocene lake sediment core taken from Nong Han (Lake) Kumphawapi, Udon Thani, Northeast Thailand. Major changes appear in the record at approximately 6500 calibrated years B.P. with the establishment of permanent swamp or lake conditions at the core site and a decline in regional arboreal taxa. These changes are difficult to explain in simple climatic terms and are inconsistent with other climatic reconstructions for the region. A coincident increase in disturbance indicators in the microfossil record may reflect human activities, particularly changes to dryland vegetation through the use of fire. The technique appears to be insensitive to the development of intensive wet-rice agriculture, which almost certainly occurred during the period represented by the microfossil record. Despite this, the results indicate good potential for further detailed microfossil analyses at Nong Han Kumphawapi. KEYWORDS: palaeoenvironmental analysis, pollen, origins of rice, Thailand, Southeast Asia.
}}
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