The city has a much larger north to south extension than west to east, which dates back to its original location on a flood-save dune.

[1] Thai honorific Sri or Si from Sanskrit Shri; Thamma, from Dharma; rat, from Raja.

An inscription was found at Wat Sema Muang that bore: The king of Srivijaya "had established a foothold on the Malay Peninsula at Ligor" by 775, where he "built various edifices, including a sanctuary dedicated to the Buddha and to the Bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani.

"[4]: 84–85, 91  Tambralinga, whose name means "Red Linga" (from Sanskrit tām(b)ra "copper" and lingam) and may relate to Chinese Tan Ma Ling (單馬令), was one of the polities under Mahayanist Srivijaya thalassocracy.

King Sri Thammasok constructed Wat Phra Mahathat and introduced Singhalese Theravada Buddhism.

The Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom held authorities over "twelve cities" that extended from Chumphon to the north and Pahang to the south.

[5] Nakhon Si Thammarat then came under the influence of Central Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya under the mandala system.

Nakhon Si Thammarat was further incorporated into Ayutthaya, who appointed governors to the city, through centralization under King Trailokanat in the fifteenth century.

Nakhon Si Thammarat served as the main seat of Siamese authority over Southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, becoming Muang Ek or first-level city.

In the 1680s, during the reign of King Narai, M. de Lamare the French architect renovated the city walls.

After the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, Phra Palat Nu the vice-governor of Ligor established himself as the local warlord and ruler over Southern Thailand.

During the reforms of King Chulalongkorn, the traditional governorship of Ligor was abolished and the city was incorporated into the Monthon Nakhon Si Thammarat 1896.

The city is more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds but experiences a few cyclones so is not purely equatorial but subequatorial.

Wat Phra Mahathat Vihaan (Thai วัดพระมหาธาตุวรมหาวิหาร) is the most important temple of Nakhon Si Thammarat and southern Thailand.

Viharn Phra Song Ma are the buildings which contain the staircase which leads to a walkway around the chedi above the gallery.

The walls spread 456 m from east to west, and 2238 m north to south, thus enclosing an area of about one square kilometre.