City Detail

Maha Sarakham is the capital city of Maha Sarakham Province in Thailand's northeastern (Isan) region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is in a rice-growing area on the southern Khorat plain, straddling the Chi River. Mahasarakham is 475 km northeast of Bangkok and 73 km southeast of Khon Kaen. The city has long been known as a regional education centre, the so-called "Taxila of Isan" (taking this name from the ancient Hindu centre of learning). It is home to six colleges, as well as Mahasarakham University (MSU) and Maha Sarakham Rajabhat University. Sarakham has the feel of a student town with the younger, more cosmopolitan population much in evidence in the downtown campus area and near MSU's second campus seven kilometres away at Kham Riang.For a time Mahasarakham ranked with Sisaket as among the poorest cities in Isan. This is changing, partly under the influence of the rapidly growing student population.