The name derives from the Pali words Nagara Pathama, meaning First city, and Nakhon Pathom is often referred as Thailand's oldest city. Archaeological remains have been linked to the (pre-Thai) Dvaravati kingdom, dating to the 6th through 11th centuries.
Nakhon Pathom Province centuries ago was a coastal city on the route between China and India; due to sedimentation from the Chao Phraya river, the coast line moved much farther to sea. When the Tha Chin river changed its course, the city lost its main water source and thus was deserted, the population moving to a city called Nakhon Chaisi (or Sirichai). King Mongkut (Rama IV) ordered the restoration of Phra Pathom Chedi, which was then crumbling and abandoned in the jungle. A city gradually formed around it, bring new life to Nakhon Pathom. A museum presents the archaeological record of the city's history.
Major settlement of the province included emigration beginning in the reign of King Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (Rama II), which included Khmer villages (e.g. Don Yai Hom), the Lanna populated (Baan Nua) and Lao Song villages (e.g. Don Kanak), as well as a major influx of Southern Chinese in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today Nakhon Pathom is attracts people from all over Thailand, most notably from Bangkok and the Northeastern, plus and Burmese migrant workers. The province includes industrial zones, major university towns, government offices relocated from Bangkok and agricultural and transport
