CHAPTER I Ban Maung Khao 1.Geographical Setting Ban Muang Khao is located in the Province of Prachinburi in the eastern part of Central Thailand. The province is characterised by two geographical land forms: in the west a vast flooded plain of the Bang Pakong River basin and in the east an upland stretching from the foot of the Dong Phraya Yen Range. Three settlement patterns are observable; clusters of houses forming a village on the border of the upland, clusters of houses in the flat plain and scattered homesteads in both the upland area and the flat plain. The monsoon divides the year into three seasons; hot and humid from April to November; cool and dry from December to mid‐February; and hot and dry from late February to April. The temperature ranges from 59˚ to 89˚ F. with monthly means of 77˚ to86˚ F. (de Young, 1955: 5). A drop at night averages around 18˚F. in April, and 22˚F. in January, while the relative humidity varies between 65 and 81 per cent (Hauck, et al, 1958:12). Rainfall averages about 50 inches a year, 40 of which fall in the wet season (Janlekha, 1955: 21). Because of the run‐off once a year from the mountains in the east, the Bang Pakong River slowly rises. fills the streams and canals then covers the flat plain to a depth of four feet or more. In Ban Muang Khao, the land is under water from June to October. From November to March the waterways run low and the flat plain dries and cracks from the intense heat. From March onwards rains begin to fall and moisten the land again. Ban Muang Khao consists of a cluster of houses on the border of the upland, and in line with it lie the other seven villages of the Commune of Ban Kok Peep. The villages are linked by road; and Ban Muang Khao is about half a mile from its nearest neighbours – the village of Ban Kok Peep, the Commune Centre to the north and Ban Ton Po to the south. A highway links Ban Kok Peep with the cities of Prachinburi and Chachoengsao and the district contres, and contact with the urban centres is maintained
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