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Surin (, ; , ; ) is one of Thailand's seventy-seven provinces ( changwat). It lies in lower northeastern Thailand, also called Isan. Neighboring provinces are (from west clockwise) Buriram province, Maha Sarakham, Roi Et, and Sisaket province. To the south it borders Oddar Meancheay of Cambodia. Surin covers a total area of from the Mun River in the north to the Dangrek Mountains in the south. The capital, Surin city, in the western central region province is from Bangkok.
The area of present-day Surin has long history of human settlement which dates back to prehistoric times. Historically the region has been ruled by various powerful kingdoms including the Khmer Empire, the Lao kingdom Lan Xang, and the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya. Reflecting this history as part the greater geo-cultural area of Thailand known as Isan, Surin is ethnically diverse. The primary language is the Isan Isan language. Speakers of Central Thai account for a small minority while nearly 50% of the population are ethnic Khmer. The remainder are speakers of various Lao languages and small tribal groups such as the Kuy people and Nyah Kur.
The northeast provinces have traditionally been isolated, both physically and culturally, from the rest of Thailand and Surin is no exception. The vast majority of the province is rural and relatively poor. There is little industrial development with rice farming being the primary industry. Rice farmers supplement their income by cutting sugar cane, as construction laborers, or working in the local silk weaving trade. (2025). 9789400705197, Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9789400705197 Elephant capture and training is also an important industry in Surin. Approximately 25 percent of all the elephants in the kingdom are raised in Surin, predominantly by the ethnic Kuy people people.
Tourism is also important to the Surin economy. Elephants and scenery are increasingly seen as potentially lucrative by the provincial government which has attempted to make Surin a destination for international ecotourism. Domestically, Surin has a reputation for its fine silk and silver beaded ornaments produced in tourist-focused villages such as Khwao Sinaring Handicraft Village. Local traders also conduct cross-border commerce with Cambodians through a border crossing at O Smach, south of Surin city.
Prior to the 14th century, the area was part of the Khmer empire in its province of Kok Khan ().Nath, Chuon. "Dictionnaire cambodgien." Edition de L’Institut Bouddhique, Phnom Penh (1967). The name of the region during the period after the fall of the Khmer Empire until acquiring its current name has been lost to history.
The northern face of the mountain range slopes gently down leveling out into the rolling flood plains that make up the central and northern regions of Surin. These areas are drained by small meandering streams which run roughly south-to-north and drain into the Mun River, which cuts through the extreme north of the province flowing east to eventually empty into the Mekong. As the third longest river in Thailand and second largest by volume of water, the Mun has been important in the region since prehistoric times.
The northwestern area of Surin is a panhandle that juts westward into Buriram province at the confluence of the Mun with Chi Creek (), which flows down from the Dangrek mountains, passing just west of the provincial capital of Surin city, and forms most of the western provincial border between Surin and Buriram. The Mun river valley forms the southern provincial border of this panhandle before extending somewhat diagonally northeast, opening up into a large lake near Tha Tum. Leaving the lake, the Mun continues on to meet the provincial border with Roi Et province just west of Road 215, effectively cutting off the mainly agricultural panhandle area from the rest of Surin. From there, the Mun River continues eastward forming the northern provincial boundary of Surin all the way to the confluence with the Thap Than Creek () that forms the eastern border of Surin with Sisaket province.
The total forest area is or 8.4 percent of provincial area.
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Following the Dvaravati period, the powerful Khmer Empire expanded its influence throughout what is now the southern Isan region of Thailand. This period covers the 7th–13th centuries CE. Surin was an important part of the ancient Khmer empire. Temple ruins and a substantial ethnic Khmer people minority remain part of Surin. Khmer stone inscriptions date from c. 600 CE. Over the next several centuries a growing number of Khmer sites were constructed in the province, most notably Prasat Sikhoraphum. These sites would have formed part of the network of Khmer infrastructure centred on Prasat Phanom Rung.
With the collapse of the Khmer empire in the 15th century, Surin faded from history, not to re-emerge until the 18th century. According to legend, a local Kuy language leader named Chiangpum presented a rare white elephant to Chao Phaya Chakri, the future King Rama I. In gratitude, he awarded Chiangpum the royal title Luang Surin Phakdi and appointed him village headman. When he became monarch, Rama I named Luang Surin Phakdi as the provincial governor. In 1763 Chiangpum's village moved 15 kilometers to its present location and was upgraded to a city named Muang Prathai Saman. According to tradition, the move was due to better water at the new site. In 1786 the name was changed to Surin in honor of its royal governor.
The province slowly grew as people returned to the area. Although there was a continual influx of people from the surrounding areas, Surin was largely self-sufficient and remained somewhat isolated until the arrival of the railroad in 1922. Chinese and Indian merchants settled in the city, manufacturing increased, and Surin gradually became a modern metropolis.
Due to Surin's significant Khmer population, aspects of Northern Khmer culture are also common in the province including the Northern Khmer language and their kantrum and chrieng brunh music forms. The historical impact of the Khmer on the culture of the region is evident in the numerous Khmer temples and ruins that dot the landscape of Surin. As the Khmer prefer jasmine rice, much of Surin's rice production is geared toward this crop.
The culture of Surin is also strongly influenced by the Kuy people, most visibly in the activity surrounding Asian elephant that is so prominent in the province. Surin is the source of approximately a quarter of all domesticated elephants in Thailand and the capture, training, and raising of these elephants is conducted by people of Kuy ethnicity. This is such an important activity to Surin and a source of pride to the Kuy people, that celebrations such as Thai Elephant Day () and the Surin Elephant Round-up are held annually on the second and third weeks, respectively, of November. The festivals include light and sound shows describing the legends of the Thai elephants and a fair at Si Narong Stadium featuring parades, floats, contests such as tug of war between elephants and men and demonstrations of war elephants.
The provincial tree and flower is the common tembusu ( Fagraea fragrans). Smallscale mud carp ( Cirrhinus microlepis) is the provincial fish.Suraset Meesin (story) and Editorial Team (photos), ปลาเด็ด 77 จังหวัด #6 (Cool fish in 77 provinces #6), Aquarium Biz, Vol. 4 Issue 43 (January 2014)
Surin is a province with a sizable Khmer people population. It was reported that 47.2 percent of the population are capable of speaking the Khmer language. This is down from the 1990 census where it was reported that 63.4 percent of the population spoke Khmer."(Surin) Key indicators of the population and household, population and housing census 1990 and 2000." Population and Housing Census 2000 .(retrieved 14 July 2009)
A third large minority group, the Kuy people, also reside in Surin. Also spelled "Guay", "Suai" or "Kha" (pejoratively), the Kuy are a Mon-Khmer people distantly related to the Khmer and considered by many Thais to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the region. A 1985 study found that 9.6 percent of the people in Surin were Kuy, 9.2 percent were mixed Lao-Kuy, and 3.1 percent were mixed Khmer-Kuy. Kuy people speak the Kuy language and most traditionally followed animist beliefs although a Syncretism blend of animism with the local Theravada Buddhism is now more common.
| Health | Education | Employment | Income |
| 70 | 65 | 58 | 77 |
| Housing | Family | Transport | Participation |
| 14 | 46 | 59 | 52 |
| Province Surin, with an HAI 2022 value of 0.5935 is "low", occupies place 77 in the ranking. | |||
| Classification |
| "high" |
| "somewhat high" |
| "average" |
| "somewhat low" |
| "low" |
| Map with provinces and HAI 2022 rankings |
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