Khon Kaen province

Several bronze and iron tools used as axes have been discovered in the province, along with a bronze ring attached to a skeleton. A copper axe from the province, of 4,600 to 4,800 years ago (2800 to 2600 BC), has been reported as the oldest in Southeast Asia.^[5]

A Sanskrit inscription of the Zhēnlà king Citrasena comes from Wat Si Mueang Aem, a moated site about 200 m from the Suea Ten canal. Brick ruins, a stone Nandi and a shivalinga have been found inside the moat. Chaowanee Lekkla places it 500 km north-west of Sambor Prei Kuk by that canal.^{[6]: 91, 97}

During the Dvaravati period, Khon Kaen was influenced by the culture of the central region. The oldest inscription found in the province dates to the 8th century and is written in the Old Mon language. It has been read as evidence of Mon people in the area at that time.^[7]: 93 The Dvaravati culture is believed to have played a significant role in the region, and the Nyah Kur people are thought to be descendants of the Dvaravati Mon people.^[7]: 75 During the 10th–11th centuries and onwards, the area came under Khmer influence, as evidenced by various inscriptions.^[7]: 166 The area fell into the control of Lan Xang before coming under Central Thai control.^[8]

Dvaravati sema stones from the province have also been studied and re-used. Piriya Krairiksh published a study in 1974 of sema in the Khon Kaen National Museum carved with scenes from the Mahānipāta jātakas.^[9]: 266 At Ban Bua Semaram in Chum Phae district a sema marks the boundary of the village, set beneath a modern road sign. Stephen Murphy gives it as an example of the stones being put to a use of the villagers' own.^[9]: 278

Vimoltip Singtuen and colleagues examined the stone itself at two sites in the province in 2025. At the ancient town of Non Nong Khu in Ban Ruea subdistrict, Phu Wiang district, a broken sema 83 cm high lay inverted beside a laterite road at the northeastern edge of the moat. A sandstone pillar 140 cm high and smaller worked pieces were found nearby.^[10]: 4 Thin-section petrography and portable X-ray fluorescence classed all of them as sublitharenite of the Phu Kradung Formation, on which the town stands. An unfinished sema at Tham Phra Kho Khat, in Nong Phai subdistrict of Chum Phae district, is quartz arenite to sublitharenite matching the Phra Wihan Formation of the surrounding Phu Wiang range.^{[10]: 2, 5} The authors conclude that each site drew on stone close at hand, but note that some samples carry two geochemical signatures and may mix material from more than one source.^{[10]: 6, 8}

At Tham Phra Kho Khat a rock shelter holds a seated sandstone Buddha 64 cm high whose head has been rebuilt in cement and gilded. A stone marker, possibly a sema, was removed from the site, and three fragments were later recovered, one carved with the axis of a stupa.^[10]: 9 Surface survey at Non Nong Khu produced earthenware, high-fired Khmer and Lan Xang wares, Chinese porcelain, spindle whorls, stone rollers, tobacco pipes and iron-smelting slag.^[10]: 2 The surveyors divided the finds into a Dvaravati–Lopburi phase of about the 8th to 13th centuries and a Lan Xang phase of about the 16th to 19th.^[10]: 8 Satellite imagery and geographic information systems were used to identify further settlements, iron-smelting sites, salt-production areas and cart tracks in the same area. The survey also found that local landform words such as non, kok, don and kut often mark places with archaeological remains.^[10]: 2

The first city of the area was established in 1783 when Rajakruluang settled there with 330 people. King Rama I made Rajakruluang the first governor of the area when establishing tighter connections with the Isan area. The main city was moved six times until in 1879 it reached its present-day location at Nuang Kaw. Khon Kaen was under the governance of Udon in the early period of Rattanakosin, c. 2450 BCE. Khon Kaen was incorporated as a city in 1797. Mancha Khiri was among the towns detached from Suwannabhumi and made part of Khon Kaen province after 1797.

Khon Kaen occupies part of the Khorat Plateau. The Chi and Phong Rivers flow through the province. The total forest area is 1,222 km² (472 sq mi) or 11.5 percent of provincial area.^[1]

National parks

The province has four national parks. Three of them belong, with three others, to region 8 (Khon Kaen) of Thailand's protected areas. Phu Kao–Phu Phan Kham falls in region 10 (Udon Thani). (Visitors in fiscal year 2024)^[12]

Phu Pha Man National Park	350 km2 (140 sq mi)	(37,404)
Phu Wiang National Park	325 km2 (125 sq mi)	(68,626)
Phu Kao–Phu Phan Kham National Park	318 km2 (123 sq mi)	(84,867)
Nam Phong National Park	197 km2 (76 sq mi)	(27,256)

Location protected areas of Khon Kaen
National park   1 Phu Pha Man   2 Phu Wiang   3 Phu Kao-Phu Phan Kham   4 Nam Phong

Khon Kaen province has a variety of basic education institutions.

Primary schools are under the jurisdiction of the Khon Kaen Primary Educational Service Area Office, which comprises five districts. Local administrative organizations cover 43 educational opportunity expansion schools, and two are under the jurisdiction of Khon Kaen University.

Secondary schools fall under three jurisdictions:

• Secondary Educational Service Area Office 25, covering 84 secondary schools in Khon Kaen Province.
• Khon Kaen Provincial Administrative Organization, covering 17 secondary schools in Khon Kaen Province.
• Two are under the jurisdiction of Khon Kaen University.^[15]

Vocational education institutions, both public and private, are under the supervision of the Office of the Vocational Education Commission.

Higher education institutions, both public and private, include Khon Kaen University, the largest and oldest university in the Northeast.

Khon Kaen has both public and private health facilities providing health services to the public. The government hospitals include Khon Kaen Hospital, Srinagarind Hospital at Khon Kaen University, and Khon Kaen Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital. The private hospitals include Khon Kaen Ram Hospital, Ratchaphruek Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Khon Kaen. Health centres, municipal public health service centres and subdistrict health promotion hospitals are spread across the province. The Integrated Opisthorchiasis Control Program, also known as the Lawa Project, is a liver fluke control programme with offices in Ban Phai and Ban Haet districts, south of Khon Kaen city.

The sports teams listed below are based in Khon Kaen.

Football

• Khon Kaen (Thai League 2) – Khon Kaen Provincial Stadium
• Khon Kaen United (Thai League 2) – Khon Kaen Provincial Stadium

Volleyball

• Khonkaen Star (Women's Volleyball Thailand League) – Khonkaen International Convention and Exhibition Center

Health	Education	Employment	Income
62	5	47	39
Housing	Family	Transport	Participation
35	27	39	46
Province Khon Kaen, with an HAI 2022 value of 0.6532 is "somewhat high", occupies place 22 in the ranking.

Since 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at sub-national level using the Human achievement index (HAI), a composite index covering all eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.^[3]

Map with provinces and HAI 2022 rankings

• Nanning, Guangxi, China (2001)
• Gaborone, Botswana

• Paradorn Srichaphan, tennis player, the first Asian to reach top ten of the ATP rankings
• Somluck Kamsing, boxer, the first Thai athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics
• Nadech Kugimiya, actor
• Sukollawat Kanarot, actor
• Peechaya Wattanamontree, actress
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul, filmmaker
• Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul, professional golfer (LPGA Tour)
• Prasit Taodee, footballer

• 
  Ubol Ratana Dam