The name Nakhon Phanom, meaning "city of mountains", was given to the city by King Rama I. There are no mountains within Nakhon Phanom itself, the limestone mountains being concentrated in the city of Thakhek in Laos on the other side of the Mekong River. Nakhon Phanom is more accurately described as a city where the mountains can be seen.
The area had been long settled by Lao people and belonged to the Lan Xang kingdom. After it came under the control of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, the population remained predominantly Lao speaking. At first it was known as Si Kotrabun, and during the reign of King Rama I was called Maruka Nakhon.
During the Vietnam War (or American War as the North Vietnamese called it) Nakhon Phanom saw some of the most serious fighting between North Vietnamese insurgents and the US forces. During the 1960s, 73 of the 131 subdistrict (tambon) were allegedly infiltrated by the Vietnamese and Lao communists, and the province was known as the "heartland of insurgency".[citation needed] US and Thai forces established a base at Nakhon Phanom, where the Thai military hosted the 56th Air Commando Wing, which conducted special operations against both the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and carried out counter-insurgency operations against Thai communist forces while conducting search and rescue operations primarily inside Laos and North Vietnam.
On 7 August 1965, an ethnic Phu Thai village in the province, made headlines when Thailand's first-ever physical confrontation between communist fighters and Thai security forces occurred. Eight communist villagers were involved, one of whom was shot dead during the incident after the town was surrounded by state forces.[2]
Between 1967 and 1971, most of the communist insurgents were defeated. Towards the end of the Vietnam War, US forces moved their Indochinese military operations to Nakhon Phanom.[citation needed]
Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh had resided from 1928 and 1931 in Ban Nachok, a small village on the road between the airbase and Nakhon Phanom. His former home and a new museum are now open to the public.[3]