Chaiya (, ) is a former capital district ( Amphoe mueang) of Surat Thani province, Southern Thailand. The main town is Talat Chaiya.
The eastern part of the district consists of mostly flat low coastal areas, while to the west are the mountains of the Phuket mountain range, including Kaeng Krung National Park.
The name Chaiya might be derived from its original Malay name cahaya, meaning 'light', 'gleam', or 'glow'. Some scholars identify Chai-ya as coming from Sri-vi- ja-ya.
Wat Phra Borommathat is centered on a reconstructed stupa in Srivijaya-style. The nearby branch of the National Museum has several relics of that time on display. Two more former stupas nearby are now only brick mounds.
Inscription 23, as it was labeled by Prince Damrong in his Collected Inscriptions of Siam, is now attributed to Wat Hua Wiang in Chaiya. Dated to the year 697 of the Mahasakkarat era (i.e., 775 CE), the inscription on a Bai Sema shaped stone tells about the King of Srivijaya having erected three stupas at that site and possibly the one at Wat Phra Borom That.
Another important temple near Chaiya is Wat Suan Mohkha Phalaram (also known by the short name Suan Mok, or Wat Than Nam Lai 'Monastery of Flowing Water'), a forest temple. The temple was founded in 1932 by Phra Buddhadasa (19061993), a revered Buddhist teacher. In 1959 the temple was relocated to the present site. These temples are believed to have been used to store rice in large quantities, due to the invading Japanese. These large Buddhist rice temples are rare in the region and only one has been officially labeled as a rice storage temple.
Although, the capital district ( Amphoe mueang) of Surat Thani province is Bandon district, the local Surat Thani people generally refer to this district as the capital district and refer to Bandon district as Chinatown of the province.
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