Friday, June 13, 2008

Province changes since 1910

Map of Thailand with the provincial boundaries as of 1915I mentioned earlier that I still have to compile a list of the changes in the provincial layout, to correct some of the mistakes in the listing at statoids.org. Over the last century several provinces ceased to exist, new were created, some where temporarily abolished and others received new names. I just hope I did not miss any of the changes in this list. I did not include changes in the boundaries of the provinces, for example the district Umphang was with three different provinces in these times.

I have chosen 1910 as the beginning of this table, as I still have to sort out the many changes during the thesaphiban reforms, especially which Mueang were at provincial level and which were subordinate. Also, after the territory losses of 1903 and 1907 the country got its current territorial extend, and in 1910 the provinces of Lanna (Chiang Mai) were finally set up. There's a slight chance I missed changes which happened between 1910 and 1917, as that is the earliest time I have a (nearly) complete list of provinces and districts. The map to the right shows these boundaries as of 1915, as far as I can get them from all the changes listed below and also district reassignments. I have added the spelling in Thai letters to those which no longer exists as province names today.
  • 1914 Nakhon Khuen Khan (นครเขื่อนขันธ์) was renamed to Phra Pra Daeng (พระประแดง).
  • 1915 the provinces Phra Nakhon (พระนคร) and Thon Buri (ธนบุรี) were established.
  • In 1915 Chaiya (ไชยา) was renamed to Surat Thani, Phichai (พิชัย) to Uttaradit, Bang Nara (บางนรา) to Narathiwat and Pranburi (ปราณบุรี) to Prachuap Khiri Khan.
  • 1926 the province Kabin Buri (กบินทร์บุรี) was abolished and added to Prachinburi.
  • In 1932 eight provinces were abolished. Lang Suan (หลังสวน) was added to Chumphon, Min Buri (มีนบุรี) split between Phra Nakhon and Chachoengsao (but soon thereafter the one district which went to Chachoengsao was also added to Phra Nakhon), Phra Pradaeng to Samut Prakan and Thonburi, Sai Buri (สายบุรี) to Pattani and Narathiwat, Takua Pa (ตะกั่วป่า) to Phang Nga, Kalasin to Maha Sarakham, Thanyaburi (ธัญบุรี) to Pathum Thani, Lom Sak (หล่มสัก) to Phetchabun, and Sukhothai became part of Sawankhalok province. Kalasin was the only one which was later recreated.
  • 1938 the province Khu Khan (ขุขันธ์) was renamed to Sisaket.
  • 1939 Sawankhalok (สวรรคโลก) was renamed to Sukhothai.
  • 1943-1946 the provinces Nakhon Nayok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon were abolished - Nakhon Nayok was split between Prachinburi and Saraburi, Nonthaburi between Thonburi and Phra Nakhon, Samut Prakan to Phra Nakhon, with the exception of the minor district Ko Sichang, which came to Chonburi (and continued to be under Chonburi after 1946), and Samut Sakhon came to Thonburi.
  • Also during Word War II, four provinces were established on territory annexed from French Indochina - Lan Chang (ลานช้าง), Nakhon Champassak (นครจำปาศักดิ์), Phibun Songkhram (พิบูลสงคราม) and Phra Tabong (พระตะบอง).
  • 1947 Kalasin was reestablished.
  • 1971 Thon Buri and Phra Nakhon became the single special administrative area Bangkok.
  • 1972 Yasothon was split off from Ubon Ratchathani.
  • 1977 the province Phayao was split off from Chiang Rai.
  • 1982 the province Mukdahan was split off from Nakhon Phanom.
  • 1993 the provinces Amnat Charoen (from Ubon Ratchathani), Nong Bua Lam Phu (from Udon Thani) and Sa Kaeo (from Prachinburi) were created.

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