Ho Kaeo Mukdahan

The tower's name is tied to the town's history. Thai Wikipedia says Chao Chanthakinnari (Chao Kinnari), son of Chao Chanthasuriyawong, ruler of Mueang Luang Phonsim and of Vientiane royal descent, led his people across the Mekong to the mouth of the Huai Bang Muk and founded Mukdahan in 1770. When the town came under Thonburi in 1778 he received the title Phraya Chanthasisurat Uparacha Mantharat, ruling until his death in 1804. English Wikipedia gives the founding as 1767–1770.

Versions of the founding legend differ in detail. Silpa Watthanatham says a hunter from Mueang Luang Phonsim crossed the Mekong and found a seven-crowned sugar palm with brick ruins beneath it, suggesting an old town; in 1767 Chao Kinnari brought his people across to settle. People saw a clear, brightly coloured crystal float out of the palm at night and back at dawn almost every night, so he named it "Kaeo Mukdahan" and named the town after it. Thai Wikipedia adds that the settlers found Buddha images and an abandoned temple by the river, later restored as Wat Si Mungkhun, and mentions a story of pearls found in Mekong freshwater mussels; the founding is recorded as the 4th month of the Year of the Pig, Chula Sakarat 1132, usually taken as 1770. Silpa Watthanatham notes the name's origin may be legend but reflects ties between people on both banks.

Thai Wikipedia says that in 1778 King Taksin of Thonburi sent Chao Phraya Maha Kasatsuek and Chao Phraya Surasi with armies to the Lao towns, including Vientiane and Champasak, after which Mukdahan came within Thonburi's realm. The title "Phraya Chanthasisurat Uparacha Mantharat" roughly means a ruler as bright as the moon with the majesty of the universal monarch Mandhatu, weaving in his original name "Chanthakinnari"; some documents spell it differently, such as "Manthaturat" or "Phanthaturat".

"Kaeo Mukdahan" is one of the nine auspicious gems (noppharat) of Thai tradition. English Wikipedia breaks the name into kaeo (precious), muk (mother-of-pearl), da (spread in a line) and han (divide). The milky-white sphere on top of the tower is meant to evoke this gem and the province's name.

Mukdahan changed greatly in modern times. English Wikipedia notes that in 1893 the Savannakhet side was ceded to France; Mukdahan was a district of Nakhon Phanom until it became Thailand's 73rd province in 1982; and the Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge to Savannakhet was completed in December 2006. The tower overlooks both the town and this cross-Mekong trade route.

Mukdahan was later reduced to a district of Nakhon Phanom before becoming a province again in 1982, as Silpa Watthanatham notes. The 1,600 m Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, Thailex says, was officially inaugurated on 19 December 2006 and opened to the public on 9 January 2007; it is part of the East–West Economic Corridor that features in the exhibition on the tower's viewing floor. For the province's 36th anniversary in 2018, Thai Post reported a year-long "36 events for 36 years" campaign, including laying the foundation stone of the Chao Chanthakinnari monument.

The idea for the tower came under governor Saroj Khatchamat, with support from MPs, the provincial council, the provincial chamber of commerce and residents. The land, 3 rai 1 ngan 14 square wah, was donated on 3 May 1995 by Thirachai Thanitsaron, son of Mukdahan merchant Yam Seng Sae Lim, as Thai Wikipedia records from the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre's museum database.

That same day the foundation stone was laid together with the casting of the Phra Phuttha Nawaming Mongkhon Mukdahan Buddha image and amulets. Construction took about a year, finishing on 31 May 1996, at about 50 million baht excluding landscaping and the interior ceramic reliefs, funded by MPs, the provincial council, the chamber of commerce, donations and amulet sales. It was handed to the Mukdahan Provincial Administrative Organization and officially opened on 18 July 1996 (Love Thailand names Mukdahan Town Municipality and local authorities as managers).

The Architects and Turnkey PCL designed and built it as a turnkey project. The tower is 65.50 m to the top of the sphere, with 12 internal levels, equivalent to a 20–22-storey building. The two-storey nine-sided base, 40 m across, represents the ninth reign; the shaft from floors 3–5 is 39.6 m tall and 6 m wide with a lift and a 321-step spiral stair; the viewing deck is 18 m across and the crowning sphere 10 m.

Floor 1 is an art and culture museum with tools and terracotta figures of past Mukdahan life. Floor 2 is the town history museum, with antiques, old photographs and costumes of ethnic groups; Thai Wikipedia lists nine: Thai Isan, Phu Thai, Kha (Bru), Kaso, Kaloeng, Saek, Yo, Kula and Vietnamese, while Love Thailand lists eight, without the Vietnamese.

Floor 6 is a 360-degree viewing deck over the town, the Mekong and Savannakhet, with an exhibition on "the Mekong, great river of Asia" and the East–West Economic Corridor around its inner walls. Floor 7, inside the sphere, enshrines Phra Phuttha Nawaming Mongkhon Maha Muni Si Mukdahan, a Buddha image of 99.99% pure silver mixed with gold in the subduing-Mara posture, 20 inches across the lap, along with Buddha images for each day of the week.

The tower remains a provincial symbol. Matichon reported the celebration of its 24th anniversary in 2019, and at the province's 44th founding-day event the governor called it the Northeast's first city tower and a symbol of prosperity.