Municipal decisions from June 25 2008

Meeting number 46 from June 25 2008 with 16 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Pha Suk (เทศบาลตำบลผาสุก), Wang Sam Mo district, Udon Thani province, effective July 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 212 km², 18 villages and 15,057 citizen.
• Sang Khom (เทศบาลตำบลสร้างคอม), Sang Khom district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 62.50 km², 13 villages and 7,488 citizen.
• Na Di (เทศบาลตำบลนาดี), Nong Saeng district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 85 km², 11 villages and 6,384 citizen.
• Hua Na Kham (เทศบาลตำบลหัวนาคำ), Si That district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 165 km², 17 villages and 10,658 citizen.
• Wang Yang (เทศบาลตำบลวังยาง), Khlong Khlung district, Kamphaeng Phet province, effective July 17 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 84.68 km², 9 villages and 5,709 citizen.
• Khlong Phikrai (เทศบาลตำบลคลองพิไกร), Phran Kratai district, Kamphaeng Phet province, effective July 15 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 36 km², 10 villages and 5,968 citizen.
• Rahan (เทศบาลตำบลระหาน), Bueng Samakkhi district, Kamphaeng Phet province, effective July 15 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 50.31 km², 10 villages and 7,470 citizen.
• Nang Lue (เทศบาลตำบลนางลือ), Mueang Chainat district, Chainat province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 28.73 km², 15 villages and 8,102 citizen.
• Ban Kluai (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านกล้วย), Mueang Chainat district, Chainat province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 16.40 km², 7 villages and 7,060 citizen.
• Pa Sang (เทศบาลตำบลป่าซาง), Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 46.60 km², 15 villages and 12,285 citizen.
• Choeng Doi (เทศบาลตำบลเชิงดอย), Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 63 km², 11 villages and 7,004 citizen.
• Mai (เทศบาลตำบลใหม่), Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 66.46 km², 16 villages and 12,772 citizen.
• Ho Kham (เทศบาลตำบลหอคำ), Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 40.04 km², 14 villages and 6,930 citizen.
• Pathum (เทศบาลตำบลปทุม), Mueang Ubon Ratchasima district, Ubon Ratchasima province, effective July 17 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 9.80 km², 12 villages and 10,478 citizen.
• Na Pong (เทศบาลตำบลนาโป่ง), Mueang Loei district, Loei province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 144.85 km², 16 villages and 9,663 citizen.
• Bua Ngam (เทศบาลตำบลบัวงาม), Damnoen Saduak district, Ratchaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 24.04 km², 6 villages and 4,294 citizen.

Municipal decisions from June 11 2008

Meeting number 45 from June 11 2008 with 13 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Na Dok Kham (เทศบาลตำบลนาดอกคำ), Na Duang district, Loei province, effective July 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 315 km², 17 villages and 9,626 citizen.
• Nang Lae (เทศบาลตำบลนางแล), Mueang Chiang Rai district, Chiang Rai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 55 km², 16 villages and 10,292 citizen.
• Nam Kham (เทศบาลตำบลน้ำคำ), Mueang Sisaket district, Sisaket province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1997¹, covers 67.35 km², 15 villages and 10,137 citizen.
• Wiang Ta (เทศบาลตำบลเวียงต้า), Long district, Phrae province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 283 km², 10 villages and 6,825 citizen.
• Dong Pa Kham (เทศบาลตำบลดงป่าคำ), Mueang Phichit district, Phichit province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 43.86 km², 9 villages and 4,928 citizen.
• Hong Saeng (เทศบาลตำบลห้องแซง), Loeng Nok Tha district, Yasothon province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 135.30 km², 19 villages and 11,426 citizen.
• Muang Wan (เทศบาลตำบลม่วงหวาน), Nam Phong district, Khon Kaen province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1995¹, covers 85.20 km², 14 villages and 9,492 citizen.
• Talat Noi (เทศบาลตำบลตลาดน้อย), Ban Mo district, Saraburi province, effective July 24 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 24 km², 8 villages and 4,749 citizen.
• Mueang Kao (เทศบาลตำบลเมืองเก่า), Sao Hai district, Saraburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 13.15 km², 9 villages and 3,257 citizen.
• Ratchakrut (เทศบาลตำบลราชกรูด), Mueang Ranong district, Ranong province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 152.41 km², 8 villages and 9,756 citizen.
• Phla (เทศบาลตำบลพลา), Ban Chang district, Rayong province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 66 km², 6 villages and 5,656 citizen.
• Bang Luang (เทศบาลตำบลบางหลวง), Sapphaya district, Chainat province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 29.77 km², 7 villages and 6,330 citizen.
• Huai Krachao (เทศบาลตำบลห้วยกระเจา), Dan Makham Tia district, Kanchanaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 230 km², 21 villages and 8,985 citizen.

[1] wrong year given in the transcript, it was gazetted in 1996 like all the others

Taling Chan district office

Bangkok's Taling Chan district (เขตตลิ่งชัน) is directly adjoining Bangkok Noi district to the west. Like all district offices in Bangkok, it looks much more like a western office building, not the typical district offices found in the provinces.

The district office is located at the rim of Khlong Chak Phra (คลองชักพระ), and 8 kilometer long canal which connects Khlong Bangkok Noi and Khlong Bangkok Yai. The canal name translates to "pulling Buddha". It got this name from the traditional boat procession which takes place on the second day of the waning moon in the 12th lunar month, when a Buddha relic is drawn from Wat Nang Chi to Wat Kai Tia (วัดไก่เตี้ย) in Taling Chan district, passing this canal.

The location next to the canal inspired Mr. Prachum Charoenlap, the district officer of Taling Chan in 1997, to create a market for agricultural products, which was augmented with five rafts in the canal serving as restaurants in 1999. Today there are 11 rafts. One simply sits on the floor, and buys food from the boats or the fixed selling places on the raft itself.

Though the place is advertised as a "Floating Market", unlike the much more famous on in Damnoen Saduak here only the eating places are floating, while the actual market where one can mostly buy flowers or food is under a roof at the street in front of the district office. And unlike Damnoen Saduak in this place one mostly finds Thai people and only rarely a foreigner, so its much closer to the traditional way of markets and not designed for tourists only.

In the open space between the street and the railway line - the western railway from Bangkok Noi railway station towards Kanchanaburi - a small park was built, with a Lotus pond, bridge, colorful bushes.

A longer review with more photos of the market and the restaurants was posted by Richard Barrow. The market is only open in the weekends.

The street address of the district office is

324 ถนนชักพระ	324 Thanon Chak Phra
แขวงคลองชักพระ	Kwaeng Khlong Chak Phra
เขตตลิ่งชัน	Khet Taling Chan
กรุงเทพมหานคร 10170	Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10170

Tambon creations in the 1990s

I had worked through some of the Royal Gazette announcements for the creations of subdistricts before, mentioned for example when I noted the renumbering of the villages when a new subdistrict was carved out. But so far it was only those in Surat Thani, or in case I needed information on a specific subdistrict for filling a Wikipedia with referenced information.

But I have already started to work through the announcements a bit more systematically, at first doing only those creations in the 1990s. There is a total of 318 announcements within the 1990s titled "ประกาศกระทรวงมหาดไทย เรื่อง ตั้งและเปลี่ยนแปลงเขตตำบล" (Announcement of the Ministry of Interior on the creation and change of area of subdistricts). However this only means there were at least 318 subdistricts created, as sometimes more than one creation is covered in one announcement - once I am through I will post a more detailed statistics. Most of the time a new subdistrict is carved out of a single subdistrict, but occasionally villages from several subdistricts are put together to form a new one. Also the number of villages differs - Ban Khuan Mut (ตำบลบ้านควนมุด) in Chulabhorn district, Nakhon Si Thammarat has just 2 villages right from its creation, but there also several which have 9 or 10 villages.

The last subdistrict were created effective November 16 1996, for reasons I don't know yet - either the Asian financial crisis, or the change of focus on the local government units. Maybe the book Thailand: a late decentralizing country will give me more on this.

PAO election brochure, Part 3

Again, a lot more time went by until I can publish another part of the PAO election brochure, but there were so many other topics which got in the queue before this one, and also I was busy with other tasks so the typing and translation of this text had rather low priority. By the way, featured on the New Mandala blog was a similar brochure from the Election Committee for the 2007 general elections.

I will only do the first part of this page on who is qualified to vote in this election. The last section of this page will be covered in the next posting, since it is continued on the next (and final) page, and it would not make sense to split that section in two parts.

คุณสมบัติของบุคคลผู้มีสิทธิเลือกตั้ง	qualification of persons eligible to vote
๑. มีสัญชาติไทย แต่บุคคลผู้มีสัญชาติไทย โดยการแปลงสัญชาติไทยมาแล้ว ไม่น้อยกว่าห้าปี	1. People who have Thai nationality, and did not change to have Thai nationality less than 5 years ago
๒. มีอายุไม่ต่ำกว่า ๑๘ ปีบริบูรณ์ ในวันที่ ๑ มกราคม ของปีที่มีการเลือกตั้ง (ต้องเกิดก่อนวันที่ ๓ มกราคม ๒๕๓๓)	2. Have an age of not lower than completely 18 years at January 1 of the year of the election (must be born before January 3 2533 [1990])
๓. มีชื่ออยู่ในทะเบียนบ้านในเขตเลือกตั้ง มาแล้วเป็นเวลาติดต่อกันไม่น้อยกว่าหนึ่งปี นับถึงวันเลือกตั้ง (ต้องมีชื่อในทะเบียนบ้าน ในเขตเลือกตั้งก่อนวันที่ ๒๑ เมษายน ๒๕๕๐)	3. Have name in house register in the constituency for a consecutive time of no less than one year till the election (must have name in house register in constituency before April 21 2550 [2007]).
๔. ในกรณีที่มีการย้ายทะเบียนบ้านออกจากเขตเลือกตั้ง ไปยังเขตเลือกตั้งหนึ่งภายในจังหวัดสุราษฎร์ธานีที่มีระยะเวลาติดต่อกันไม่ถึง ๑ ปี ให้บุคคลนั้นไปใช้สิทธิเลือกตั้งในเขตเลือกตั้งที่ตนมีชื่ออยู่ในทะเบียนบ้านครั้งสุดท้ายที่มีระยะเวลาติดต่อกันไม่น้อยกว่า ๑ ปี	4. In case of moving registered home from one constituency to another within the province Surat Thani and not yet reach one year of residence, the person has to exercise the right to vote in the constituency where he last stayed consecutively no less than one year.

Municipal decisions from June 6 2008

Meeting number 44 from June 6 2008 with 14 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Mueang Na (เทศบาลตำบลเมืองนะ), Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 15 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 486 km², 14 villages and 30,812 citizen.
• Thung Khao Phuang (เทศบาลตำบลทุ่งข้าวพวง), Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 224.50 km², 7 villages and 9,031 citizen.
• Ping Khong (เทศบาลตำบลปิงโค้ง), Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 258.40 km², 16 villages and 11,539 citizen.
• Bo (เทศบาลตำบลบ่อ), Khlung district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 85.10 km², 10 villages and 6,831 citizen.
• Chak Thai (เทศบาลตำบลชากไทย), Khao Khitchakut district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 86.56 km², 8 villages and 4,097 citizen.
• Takhian Thong (เทศบาลตำบลตะเคียนทอง), Khao Khitchakut district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 217 km², 9 villages and 4,217 citizen.
• Khao Baisi (เทศบาลตำบลเขาบายศรี), Tha Mai district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 62.30 km², 12 villages and 5,897 citizen.
• Na Ngua (เทศบาลตำบลนางั่ว), Mueang Phetchabun district, Phetchabun province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 66.38 km², 13 villages and 12,510 citizen.
• Hua Chang (เทศบาลตำบลหัวช้าง), Chaturaphak Phiman district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 41.59 km², 15 villages and 8,741 citizen.
• Hong Hin (เทศบาลตำบลหงส์หิน), Chun district, Phayao province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 77.95 km², 13 villages and 7,012 citizen.
• Pru Yai (เทศบาลตำบลปรุใหญ่), Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 16.63 km², 7 villages and 8,931 citizen.
• Nong Bon (เทศบาลตำบลหนองบอน), Bo Rai district, Trat province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 116 km², 5 villages and 8,505 citizen.
• Noen Makok (เทศบาลตำบลเนินมะกอก), Bang Mun Nak district, Phichit province, effective July 17 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 60.60 km², 12 villages and 7,274 citizen.
• Tong Khop (เทศบาลตำบลตองโขบ), Khok Si Suphan district, Sakon Nakhon province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 135 km², 18 villages and 12,254 citizen.

Muban names with or without Ban?

Most of the time when I get around the name of a muban it is preceded with the word Ban (บ้าน, House). However, if this Ban is actually part of the name, or if it is just a remnant of the term Muban (หมู่บ้าน) - literally meaning group of houses - is something I am still not sure about.

Why I wonder - the village list I found earlier does not include the Ban except for few instances, and also occasionally Royal Gazette announcements have a double Ban - e.g. the creation of Muban Mai Ruam Charoen (บ้านใหม่ร่วมเจริญ) in Wang Ngio subdistrict, Dong Charoen district, Phichit province in end of 2006 (Volume 124, Issue พิเศษ 8 ง, Page 145-148), in which is reads

แยกหมู่บ้านบ้านใหม่ดงเจริญ หมู่ที่ ๖ ตำบลวังงิ้ว จัดตั้งเป็นหมู่บ้านใหม่อีก ๑ หมู่บ้าน
ชื่อหมู่บ้านใหม่ร่วมเจริญ โดยตั้งเป็นหมู่ที่ ๑๑ ตำบลวังงิ้ว

which means Split of village Ban Mai Dong Charoen, Village 6 of subdistrict Wang Ngio, to create one new village named Muban Mai Ruam Charoen, and make it village 11 of subdistrict Wang Ngio. Too bad the district Dong Charoen is missing in that Excel sheet, so I cannot check if village 6 there has the Ban in its name. But most other similar announcements have a only a single Ban.

Municipal decisions from June 4 2008

Meeting number 42 from June 4 2008 with 14 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities, all of them additionally got renamed to prevent duplicately named municipalities.

• Udom Tham (เทศบาลตำบลอุดมธรรม), Krasang district, Buriram province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was originally named Krasang (กระสัง) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Krasang. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 70.74 km², 17 villages and 11,014 citizen.
• Thep Wongsa (เทศบาลตำบลเทพวงศา), Khemarat district, Ubon Ratchathani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was originally named Khemarat (เขมราฐ) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Khemarat. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 90.36 km², 17 villages and 10,460 citizen.
• Ban Phran (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านพราน), Phran Kratai district, Kamphaeng Phet province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was originally named Phran Kratai (พรานกระต่าย) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Phran Kratai. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 103.2 km², 12 villages and 6,710 citizen.
• Pak Thong Chai (เทศบาลตำบลปักธงชัย), Pak Thong Chai district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 16 2008. The TAO was originally named Mueang Pak (เมืองปัก) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Mueang Pak. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 17.92 km², 7 villages and 4,304 citizen.
• Luang Pho Khian (เทศบาลตำบลหลวงพ่อเขียน), Dong Charoen district, Phichit province, effective July 17 2008. The TAO was originally named Samnak Khun Nen (สำนักขุนเณร) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Samnak Khun Nen. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 33.49 km², 11 villages and 4,140 citizen.
• Ao Phayun (เทศบาลตำบลอ่าวพะยูน), Pak Phayun district, Phatthalung province, effective July 24 2008. The TAO was originally named Pak Phayun (ปากพะยูน) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Pak Phayun. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 35.92 km², 6 villages and 4,424 citizen.
• Khuan Sao Thong (เทศบาลตำบลควนเสาธง), Pak Phayun district, Phatthalung province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was originally named Tamot (แม่ขรี) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Mae Khari. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 53.63 km², 11 villages and 6,807 citizen.
• Nong Saeng (เทศบาลตำบลควนเสาธง), Wang Sam Mo district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was originally named Wang Sam Mo (วังสามหมอ) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Wang Sam Mo. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 54 km², 10 villages and 4,951 citizen.
• Ket Udom Sak (เทศบาลตำบลเขตอุดมศักดิ์), Sattahib district, Chonburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was originally named Sattahib (สัตหีบ) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Sattahib. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 88.25 km², 9 villages and 52,283 citizen.
• Klet Khaeo (เทศบาลตำบลเกล็ดแก้ว), Sattahib district, Chonburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was originally named Bang Sare (บางเสร่) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Bang Sare. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 58 km², 7 villages and 7,376 citizen.
• Phra That Pu Kam (เทศบาลตำบลพระธาตุปู่ก่ำ), Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was originally named Mueang Ngai (เมืองงาย) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Mueang Ngai. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 159.86 km², 8 villages and 2,377 citizen.
• Makham Mueang Mai (เทศบาลตำบลมะขามเมืองใหม่), Makham district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was originally named Makham (มะขาม) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Makham. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 50.75 km², 10 villages and 5,783 citizen.
• Bueng Raman (เทศบาลตำบลบึงระมาณ), Bang Rakam district, Phitsanulok province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was originally named Plak Raet (ปลักแรด) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Plak Raet. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 90.49 km², 10 villages and 4,301 citizen.
• Pak Nam Tha Ruea (เทศบาลตำบลปากน้ำท่าเรือ), Mueang Ranong district, Ranong province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was originally named Pak Nam (ปากน้ำ) and was renamed together with the upgrade, as the central part of the subdistrict already forms a subdistrict municipality named Pak Nam. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 22.80 km², 5 villages and 7,050 citizen.

Also, there have been 2 renaming of municipalities.

• Mueang Det (เทศบาลเมืองเมืองเดช), Det Udom district, Ubon Ratchathani province renamed to Det Udom (เทศบาลเมืองเดชอุดม) to avoid confusion with the TAO Mueang Det.
• Rang Wai (เทศบาลตำบลรางหวาย), Phanom Tuan district, Kanchanaburi province renamed to Talat Khet (เทศบาลตำบลตลาดเขต) as the more fitting name.

The Etymology of Phetchaburi

The text below was written by King Mongkut (Rama IV, reigned 1851-1868) himself and was first published in the Bangkok Calendar, an annual almanac founded in 1859 until the death of its printer Dan Beach Bradley. It was later republished in the 1885 compendium Siam, The Land of the White Elephant, edited by George S. Bacon. I found it in the book Early Accounts of Phetchaburi, published by the Siam Society in 1987. The photo shows the temple Wat Phra Kaeo, part of the Phra Nakhon Khiri palace complex right next to the town. It was also King Mongkut who built this palace.

Though titled etymology, the text is not about the origin of the name of the city, but in fact King Mongkut complains about the inconsistent and varying spellings of the name in western source.

But as the city P'etch'ără-booree the masses of the people in all parts call it P'ripp'ree or P'et-pree. The name P'etch'ără-booree is Sanskrit, a royal name given to the place the same as T'on-booree, Non-booree, Năk'awn K'u'n k'ăn, Sămŏŏtă-pra-kan, and Ch'ă-chong-sow. Now if Mahá nak'awn be called Bangkok, and the other names respectively called Tălát-k'wan, Paklat, Paknam, and Păătrew, it is proper that P'etch'ără-booree should follow suit, and be called by her vulgar name P'rip-p'ree, or P'et-p'ree.

Now that the company of teachers and print­ers should coin a name purporting to be after the royal style and yet do not take the true Sanskrit, seems not at all proper. In trying to Romanize the name P'etch'ără-booree, they place the mark over the a thus P'etchă-booree, making foreigners read it P'etcha-booree, following the utterances of old dances in the temples, who boast that they know Balăm Bali, and not satisfied with that, they even call the place City P'et, setting fortn both the Bali and the meaning of the word; and thus boast­ing greatly of their knowledge and of being a standard of orthography for the name of that city.

Now what is the necessity of coining another name like this? There is no occasion for it. When the name is thus incorrectly printed, persons truly acquainted with Sanskrit and Bali (for such there are many other places) will say that those who write or print the name in the way, must be pupils of ignorant teachers - blind teachers not fol­lowing the real Sanskrit in full, taking only the utterances of woodsmen, and holding them forth [as the correct way.] In following such sounds they cannot be in accord with the Sanskrit, and they conclude that the name is Siamese. Where­as, in truth, it is not Siamese. The true Siamese name is P'rip-p'ree or P'et-p'ree. It matters not what letters are used to express it - follow your own mind; but let the sound come out clear and accu­rate either P'rip-p'ree or P'et-p'ree, and it will be true Siamese. But the mode of writing and print­ing the name P'etchă-booree with the letter a and mark over it and other marks in two places, resists the eye and the mouth greatly. What­ever be done in this matter let there be uniformi­ty. If it be determined to follow the vulgar mode of calling the name, let that be followed out fully and accurately; but if the royal mode be preferred, let the king be sought unto for the pro­per way of writing it, which shall be in full accord­ance with the Sanskrit. And should this happen not to be like the utterance of the people in the temples the difference cannot be great. And persons unacquainted with Sanskrit will be con­strained to acknowledge that you do really know Sanskrit; and comparing the corrected with the improper mode of Romanizing, will praise you for the improvement which you have made. Such per­sons there are a few, not ignorant and blind lead­ers and dunces like the inmates of the temples and of the jungles and forests, but learned in the San­skrit and residents in Siam.

Budgets of the local governments

A random find by Google - an Excel sheet with the budgets of all the local government entities (municipalities, PAO and TAO) for the fiscal year 2551 (2008). The file comes from the website of the town Tha Kham in Surat Thani, though it actually must be from the Ministry of Interior, it's just that Google first found it on that site.

The budgets of the local government entities consists of a portion of the VAT collected in the respective area, the exact portion depends on the type of the entity - a city gets a higher portion, but also have more tasks to perform with that money.

Some quick look statistics - the region with the highest budget is the Northeast (Isan) with 3110 million Baht, followed by the central (without Bangkok) 2770 million, the North with 1900 million, and the south with 1580 million. But of course the regions have quite different sizes, so this is not the best way to compare them. Within each of the regions, the entities with the highest budgets are not that much suprising:

• Central part: Pattaya (98 million Baht) followed by the city Nonthaburi (47 m) and Pak Kret (26 m)
• Northern part: Chiang Mai city (30 m), Chiang Mai PAO (24 m) and Nakhon Sawan city (21 m)
• South: Hat Yai city (49 m), Yala city (42 m) and Trang city (33 m). A bit surprising that Phuket and Samui aren't in the top three.
• Northeast: Nakhon Ratchasima city (33 m), Udon Thani city (29 m) and Nakhon Ratchasima PAO (27 m)
  

Board game "König von Siam"

Board games are especially popular here in Germany, highlighted by the annual games fair in Essen. So it's no wonder that a German who designed a board game based on the reforms of King Chulalongkorn named "König von Siam" (King of Siam). The author Peer Sylvester is also a co-author of a German board game blog.

As the base story for this game, these reforms lead to a civil war of three factions - the followers of the King, the Laotians and the Malay. These then try to win as many as possible of the eight provinces into which the country was divided for this game. In one province after another a fight between the three factions is done, and in case no faction can win the British add this province to be their colony. After the eight fights, the winning faction is of course the one which controls most provinces. However, as the players don't play one of the factions directly, the winner is the player who did collect most of members of the winning faction during the game.

Am not that much into these board games, but from what I read it sounds like it can be an interesting and enjoying game. But why I am writing about this game is simply the board, the map of Siam in 1874 with the eight provinces. It was this map which I found in the Google image search. Of course these eight provinces are historically wrong, but the game author had to simplify the facts to create a playable game. The author writes in the introduction:

Heute besteht Thailand aus über 40 Provinzen, anno 1874 waren es sogar noch mehr. Folglich mußten ein paar zusammengelegt werden, um auf 8 Provinzen zu kommen. Hierbei habe ich mich ein sowohl von der Historie leiten lassen (Welche Provinzen waren damals wichtig?) als auch von ihrem aktuellen Bekanntheitsgrad.

Today Thailand consists of more than 40 provinces, and in 1874 it were even more. Thus several had to be put together to come down to 8 provinces. To do this I used both history (which province was important back then) as well as its current level of familiarity.

Actually, there are more than 70, but for the number of Mueang of 1876 I haven't find an authoritative list yet.

Judging from the historic importance several of the author's choices are somewhat odd. Luang Prabang (as the Lao kingdom, including Vientiane and Champassak which in 1876 were separate principalities), Lan Na and Kedah are easy choices. Sukhothai, though in 1874 way past its peak importance already, got quite a lot of Isan area attached which would better fitted under the Lao province. The choice of Ayutthaya instead of Bangkok must have been done because Bangkok sounds too modern for a historical game, though Krung Thep was capital for 100 years then already. Kanchanaburi much more well-known today than it was important in the times back then - and actually the capital of this province is located closer to Suphanburi, which was the more important Mueang. More deviating from the historic reality is Surat Thani, which in 1874 did not exist yet - the province center of Chaiya was further north and Ban Don was just a small village which got the name Surat Thani in 1915. Nakhon Si Thammarat (then better known as Ligor in the western maps) would have been the better choice for its historical importance. But I really don't understand why Roi Et was chosen for the province covering southern Isan and the parts of Cambodia ruled by Siam. Khorat (Nakhon Ratchasima) is the much more well-known city in that part, and it also was the most important one in the past, though at first located and named Phimai.

But I am of course nitpicking - the important thing for a board game is not its historical accuracy, it is how much fun it creates for the players. As I haven't bought this game yet it's nothing I can judge.

Municipal decisions from May 30 2008

Meeting number 41 from May 30 2008 with 13 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Nong Phai^[1] (เทศบาลตำบลหนองไผ่), Mueang Udon Thani district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 39 km², 12 villages and 8,362 citizen.
• Nong Phai^[1] (เทศบาลตำบลหนองไผ่), Nong Han district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 72 km², 12 villages and 9,152 citizen.
• Khaen (เทศบาลตำบลแคน), Sanom district, Surin province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 35.50 km², 14 villages and 9,061 citizen.
• Khanthrom^[2] (เทศบาลตำบลกันทรอม), Khun Han district, Sisaket province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 138.65 km², 13 villages and 8,622 citizen.
• Thai Charoen (เทศบาลตำบลไทยเจริญ), Thai Charoen district, Yasothon province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 71 km², 13 villages and 8,549 citizen.
• Kham Pom (เทศบาลตำบลขามป้อม), Khemarat district, Ubon Ratchathani province, effective July 17 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 72.45 km², 17 villages and 9,259 citizen.
• Don Arang (เทศบาลตำบลดอนอะราง), Nong Ki district, Buriram province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 74.50 km², 15 villages and 10,348 citizen.
• Mae Puem (เทศบาลตำบลแม่ปืม), Mueang Phayao district, Phayao province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 96 km², 18 villages and 9,336 citizen.
• Pa Tan (เทศบาลตำบลป่าตาล), Khun Tan district, Chiang Rai province. The summary for this one is missing in the file, instead the following one has been summarized twice.
• Pha In Plaeng (เทศบาลตำบลผาอินทร์แปลง), Erawan district, Loei province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 72.25 km², 14 villages and 8,047 citizen.
• Sala Klang (เทศบาลตำบลศาลากลาง), Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 14.78 km², 6 villages and 7,992 citizen.
• Pho Ngam (เทศบาลตำบลโพธิ์งาม), Prachantakham district, Prachinburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 323.60 km², 19 villages and 10,492 citizen.
• Mae Lan Na (เทศบาลตำบลแม่ลานนา
  ), Long district, Phrae province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was originally named Huai O (ห้วยอ้อ) and was renamed together with the upgrade. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 109.31 km², 14 villages and 6,808 citizen.

Comments:
^[1]It will be a bit confusing to have two subdistrict municipalities with the same name in one province.
^[2]Normally the combination ทร is read as a "S" sound, however according to the DOPA recommended subdistrict romanizations it should be the literal "thr" here. But this might be an error in that recommendations as well.

Book with list of all muban

I have been looking through the online book list of the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA), which seem to mostly contain legal texts or handbooks for the officers in the provines. But I also found a two-volume book named ทำเนียบท้องที่ (local directory), which in fact is nothing but a complete list of the central administrative entities down to village level published in 2003. It can be both viewed online (volume 1, volume 2) or downloaded (volume 1, volume 2). However actually the download links are quite broken - the link for volume 2 returns volume 1, but some pages are in strange ordering; the link for volume 1 returns a part of volume 1, so volume 2 is only readable page by page from the first links.

Quite usable would be the map of subdistricts for each province, but sadly either the print or the subsequent scan make it hard to recognize much. More handy are the tables of entities for each of the province - including the area of each district with an accuracy of 0.01 km², and of course the list of the villages. But the problem is that the online book is the scan of a printed book, so I would have to type in all the names again, an impossible task for more than 60,000 villages. That's why I want a digital village list. If they had put online the source of the printed book - a PDF with copy-and-pasteable text - it would be much better. Not only the size of the file would be much smaller - the file is 75 MB - and it would be allow the contents to be reused. So I can only hope they'll make a new edition of this book already 5 years old, or even better than a PDF, they put the actual data online as Excel sheets or simple plain text files. Excel sheets would also help to spot mistakes as they can calculate the sums automatically - copying the data from a few province I have already spotted two mistakes in the tables.

Municipal decisions from May 28 2008

Meeting number 39 from May 28 2008 with 14 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Laem Thong (เทศบาลตำบลแหลมทอง), Nong Bun Mak district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 69.22 km², 10 villages and 5,667 citizen.
• Dan Khla (เทศบาลตำบลด่านคล้า), Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 29 km², 14 villages and 8,567 citizen.
• Nong Sang (เทศบาลตำบลหนองสังข์), Kaeng Khro district, Chaiyaphum province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 90.70 km², 16 villages and 9,729 citizen.
• Huai Krot (เทศบาลตำบลห้วยกรด), Sankhaburi district, Chainat province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 21.44 km², 9 villages and 9,147 citizen.
• Non Po Daeng (เทศบาลตำบลโนนปอแดง), Pha Khao district, Loei province, effective June 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 123 km², 17 villages and 10,440 citizen.
• Non Sa-at (เทศบาลตำบลโนนสะอาด), Si Bun Rueang district, Nong Bua Lam Phu province, effective July 10 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 161.06 km², 17 villages and 12,177 citizen.
• Chiang Khruea (เทศบาลตำบลเชียงเครือ), Mueang Sakon Nakhon district, Sakon Nakhon province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 85.77 km², 17 villages and 17,342 citizen.
• Phon Sung (เทศบาลตำบลโพนสูง), Chai Wan district, Udon Thani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 105 km², 11 villages and 7,097 citizen.
• Chiang Khong (เทศบาลตำบลเชียงของ), Chiang Khong district, Chiang Rai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was named Wiang (เวียง) and was renamed together with the upgrade. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 120 km², 11 villages and 8,041 citizen.
• Khok Lam (เทศบาลตำบลโคกล่าม), Chaturaphak Phiman district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 45.88 km², 16 villages and 7,263 citizen.
• Ko Khwang (เทศบาลตำบลเกาะขวาง), Mueang Chanthaburi district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 22.88 km², 9 villages and 10,326 citizen.
• Takha (เทศบาลตำบลตะค่า), Bang Pla Ma district, Suphanburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 38.50 km², 9 villages and 5,946 citizen.
• Po Phan (เทศบาลตำบลปอภาร), Mueang Roi Et district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 32 km², 14 villages and 7,894 citizen.
• Bua Ban (เทศบาลตำบลบัวบาน), Yang Talat district, Kalasin province, effective July 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 49.68 km², 23 villages and 13,264 citizen.

Misleading map

The book The Provincial Administration of Siam 1892-1915 by Tej Bunnag contains a map in the preface which shows "Siam in 1915". I mentioned it shortly already when I wrote about the monthon abolished in 1932.

As I considered (and still do) the book very authoritative, I also took this map at face value and thus supposed that the boundaries it shows are correct. The differences between the current boundaries and the ones in the book are only the provinces Amnat Charoen, Sa Kaeo and Nong Bua Lamphu created in 1993, Phayao created in 1977 and Yasothon created in 1972. Also Thonburi and Phra Nakhon are show as separate province, as they were merged in Bangkok metropolis in 1971. In the appendix the book lists the provinces of each monthon at the creation of the monthon, thus including provinces like Takua Pa or Lang Suan. As these weren't present in this map I thus thought they must have been abolished in before 1915.

So it was quite a surprise when I discovered the Royal Gazette announcement on the abolishment of monthon and provinces in 1933, and found it include all those provinces which existed at the establishment of the monthon, but were all lacking in this map. I already posted a complete list of provincial changes till 1910 here. In fact, the map not only lacks these provinces, it also lacks provincial boundary changes by reassignments of districts from one province to another. The most notable - because it's the largest district of all - is Umphang, which in 1915 still belonged to Kamphaeng Phet, but in this map its easy to see belonging to Tak.

So, in fact this map is in fact very misleading, it seems it was much less carefully researched than the other parts of the work. In fact simply shows the provincial layout of 1968 (the year the dissertation was written) with the monthon superimposed, but definitely not "Siam in 1915".

Muban rename in Phetchabun

Published today in the Royal Gazette an announcement renaming one village (muban) in Phetchabun Province.

Volume 125, Issue 94 ง on Page 132 contains the rename of village 5 of subdistrict Nong Yang Thoi, Si Thep district, from Ban Sap Noi (บ้านซับน้อย) to Ban Sap Udom Mongkhon (บ้านซับอุดมมงคล).

Village creations announcement before gazetting

Earlier I mentioned that on the thaigov.go.th website I could find the decision on the creation of a new minor district, in the hope to find out about new such decision more timely than before.

Now I just for fun tried to search for pages containing the two words "ตั้งเป็น" (create to be) limited to that website, and directly the first hit Google returned was one with the creation of 7 villages (muban) in Uthai Thani. This text was dated January 19 2007. These new villages were then announced in the Royal Gazette on May 21, which was approved for publication on January 15, and also went in effect on that date.

However it seems this was the only one of this kind, as there were about of 200 announcement of new villages in 2007, but this was the only one which made it into a news announcement on the website. But too bad there seems to be no RSS feed for the news on that website, that one then could be filtered to find the interesting postings easily.

Cartoon and caricature maps of Thailand

With a bit of imagination the shape of the boundaries of Thailand  resemble an elephant, with the long southern part on the Malay peninsula to for the trunk. I remember to have seen cartoon maps playing with exactly that image, especially as the elephant is such a symbolic animal for Thailand - it was present on the old flag before 1917, and the white elephant is still a royal symbol.

Strangely, it seems my memory is playing tricks on me. I believed to have seen several such maps in Thongchakul Winichakul book Siam Mapped, but when I now checked it to scan the best ones to show here, I noticed that in fact it has just a single one, and not quite like the one I had in mind.

Sadly no citation for that drawing is given, it must have been published in Thai media since it has Thai characters all around. Also it is not dated, yet the topic of Thailand being threatened by the spread of communism into the neighboring Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia suggest it should be from the second half of the 1970s, after South Vietnam fell, the Khmer Rouge overtook Cambodia, and the communist insurgents in Thailand were at its high following the return to military rule in 1976. The reproduction is to much blurred, so I cannot make out the Thai letters - in Siam Mapped it is titled "Wake up, Thai people".

The artful map I had in mind more similar to those maps of Europe during World War I, or the Japanese map of Asia, both found on the bibliodyssey blog. As I cannot find them in any of my books, it must have been a website where I saw them, but seems like I did not bookmark it then.

But to add a contemporary example - 2bangkok.com often features the Kao Lao political cartoons from the newspaper Matichon (มติชน), and at the height of the Preah Viharn crisis it showed the caricature to the right which shows Thailand biting a chunk out of Cambodia. I have cut out the relevant part, the whole one can still be seen in the 2bangkok archive. The text ถูกสอน ให้คลั่งชาติ ตั้งแต่เด็ก translates to Being taught to be a nationalist from childhood.

Thailand : a late decentralizing country

Google made me discover an interesting source again - the Thailand office of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (named after the first chancellor or Germany after World War II) is funding projects on democratization, especially at the local level. There are several interesting seminars - though likely in Thai, and of course a bit far away for me to attend - as well as publications on political topics sponsored by them. Again most of these publication seem to be in Thai only.

But there is one which caught my attention, the 2006 book Thailand: a late decentralizing country by Tanet Charoenmuang (ธเนศวร์ เจริญเมือง) (ISBN 9789747811483). Professor Tanet is working at the Faculty of polical science and public administration of Chiang Mai University. Googeling for his name I can find he has published several interesting articles and books on local administration, however again most in Thai. Among other things, this search also made me find the Informal Northern Thai Group, where he just today gave a talk on "The Administrative Structure of Chiang Mai Province". I am looking forward to see the transcript of that meeting on the website of the INTG.

Back to the book. As there is so few in English on the local government structures, this book would be a great resource. But there are only very few hits on the web for it, and none of the online book sellers has it in its catalog. And if I had seen it in any of the bookstores in Bangkok I probably would have bought it directly. I already tried to contact the KAS, but they only only have one copy for documenting their funding of the project. So, if anyone can help me to obtain a copy I would be grateful.

Municipal decisions from May 22 2008

Meeting number 38 from May 22 2008 with 12 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Doet (เทศบาลตำบลเดิด), Mueang Yasothon district, Yasothon province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 35.80 km², 17 villages and 11,355 citizen.
• Tat Thong (เทศบาลตำบลตาดทอง), Mueang Yasothon district, Yasothon province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 41 km², 13 villages and 9,212 citizen.
• Thale Sap (เทศบาลตำบลทะเลทรัพย์), Pathio district, Chumphon province, effective July 24 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 78.71 km², 8 villages and 4,950 citizen.
• Chum Ko (เทศบาลตำบลชุมโค), Pathio district, Chumphon province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 256 km², 14 villages and 10,940 citizen.
• Noen Kho (เทศบาลตำบลเนินฆ้อ), Klaeng district, Rayong province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 36.08 km², 9 villages and 4,520 citizen.
• Ban Na (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านนา), Klaeng district, Rayong province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 67.92 km², 13 villages and 8,264 citizen.
• Mae Kham Mi (เทศบาลตำบลแม่คำมี), Mueang Phrae district, Phrae province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 16 km², 12 villages and 7,661 citizen.
• Kham Bong (เทศบาลตำบลคำบง), Huai Phueng district, Kalasin province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 152 km², 15 villages and 10,458 citizen.
• Ban Daen (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านแดน), Banphot Phisai district, Nakhon Sawan province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 68.09 km², 10 villages and 7,060 citizen.
• San Pu Loei (เทศบาลตำบลสันปูเลย), Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 19.09 km², 15 villages and 9,520 citizen.
• Chumphon (เทศบาลตำบลชุมพร), Moei Wadi district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 61.81 km², 14 villages and 7,474 citizen.
• Doem Bang (เทศบาลตำบลเดิมบาง), Doem Bang Nang Buat district, Suphanburi province, effective July 24 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 45 km², 11 villages and 6,935 citizen.

Latest subdistricts of Bangkok

I mentioned earlier that the last subdistrict (tambon) created was in 1997. But to clarify it a bit, in fact there have been new subdistricts created after 1997, but these were not Tambon, but Khwaeng (แขวง), which are a different administrative entity unique to the city of Bangkok.

While both Khwaeng and Tambon are the third level territorial subdivision, the difference between the two is at first that Tambon are subordinate of the Ministry of the Interior, while the Khwaeng are under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). I still have to find the details on how the Khwaeng are actually administrated, the Wikipedia article on this is still very incomplete and needs expansion.

Anyway, there have been two announcements on the creation of new subdistricts after 1997, both issued on December 1 2003.

• In Chatuchak district (เขตจตุจักร) four subdistrict got created - before this change the district consisted of the single subdistrict Lat Yao (แขวงลาดยาว). The corresponding announcement was in Royal Gazette volume 120, issue พิเศษ 138 ง, pages 28 to 34.
• In Thonburi district (เขตธนบุรี) the two new subdistrict Samre (แขวงสำเหร่) and Dao Khanong (แขวงดาวคะนอง) got created, increasing the number of subdistricts from 5 to 7. The corresponding announcement was in Royal Gazette volume 120, issue พิเศษ 138 ง, pages 35 to 42.

Municipal decisions from May 21 2008

Meeting number 37 from May 21 2008 with 13 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Khok Muang (เทศบาลตำบลโคกม่วง), Khao Chaison district, Phatthalung province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 67.99 km², 15 villages and 9,731 citizen.
• Han Thao (เทศบาลตำบลหารเทา), Pak Phayun district, Phatthalung province, effective July 24 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 51 km², 11 villages and 9,670 citizen.
• Chumphon (เทศบาลตำบลชุมพล), Mueang Phatthalung district, Phatthalung province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 72 km², 14 villages and 8,193 citizen.
• Ban Na (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านนา), Mueang Phatthalung district, Phatthalung province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 117 km², 12 villages and 7,316 citizen.
• Khok Cha-ngai (เทศบาลตำบลโคกชะงาย), Mueang Phatthalung district, Phatthalung province, effective February 1 2009. The TAO was created in 1997, covers 16.50 km², 9 villages and 5,030 citizen.
• Din Dam (เทศบาลตำบลดินดำ), Changhan district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 31.15 km², 17 villages and 7,394 citizen.
• Dong Sing (เทศบาลตำบลดงสิงห์), Changhan district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 27.30 km², 18 villages and 9,717 citizen.
• Mai Ya (เทศบาลตำบลไม้ยา), Phaya Mengrai district, Chiang Rai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 131 km², 18 villages and 11,063 citizen.
• Khrueng (เทศบาลตำบลครึ่ง), Chiang Khong district, Chiang Rai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 99 km², 11 villages and 6,840 citizen.
• Ban Duea (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านเดื่อ), Kaset Sombun district, Chaiyaphum province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 143 km², 21 villages and 15,034 citizen.
• Wang Mai (เทศบาลตำบลวังใหม่), Mueang Chumphon district, Chumphum province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 93.44 km², 9 villages and 8,598 citizen.
• Chanthop Phet (เทศบาลตำบลจันทบเพชร), Ban Kruat district, Buriram province, effective July 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 62.16 km², 12 villages and 7,196 citizen.
• Nikhom Thung Pho Thale (เทศบาลตำบลนิคมทุ่งโพธิ์ทะเล), Mueang Kamphaeng Phet district, Kamphaeng Phet province, effective July 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 69 km², 16 villages and 9,358 citizen.

Town twinning

Town twinning or sister cities are two names for official friendships between cities is a concept popular in Europe for many years, especially after Second World War to overcome the misunderstandings. Even though it is called sister cities, also other administrative entities might develop such official friendship ties, like the Kreise (districts) in Germany. Such twinning seems this has lately become popular in Thailand as well, as someone had added a few such relationships to the Wikipedia articles. However it seems the confusion of having different entities with the same name is also seen in this attempt. According to Wikipedia, Chiang Mai Province has twinning ties with Shanghai and Yogyakarta, and Khon Kaen with Nanning. But I wonder if it is really the province which has been twinned, or the municipality with the same name.

According to the Chinese newspaper People's Daily, Shanghai has signed the twinning with the city of Chiang Mai, however the twinning was signed by Pravit Sihsobhon, the governor of the province. If the twinning is with the city, one would expect the city mayor to sign the agreement. For the twinning with Yogyakarta, the report of Chiang Mai Mail confirms it's the province with is twinned with the Indonesian province. A list of official friendships between China and Thailand only adds the province for Chiang Rai, for the other ones it is not clear if its the town or the province.

• Beijing - Bangkok
• Shanghai - Chiang Mai
• Yuannan - Chiang Rai Province
• Henan Province - Chon Bury
• Kunming - Chiang Mai,
• Yantai - Phuket
• Nanning - Khon Kaen

The two-parts article Twinning in Thailand (An effective municipal partnership and Fredericton and Ubon Ratchathani) from the Canadian magazine Municipal World not only gives some insights in the twinning itself, but also explains the central and local administration system of Thailand in some details.

But can someone maybe supply me with a complete lists of friendships and twinnings between Thai entities and those of other countries? I could not find any in English yet, and one in Thai would not fall the confusion between town and province. I'd be especially curious if there'd be any such relationships between Thailand and Germany, with Google I failed to find any.

TAO upgrades to municipalities

In the last two month the upgrade of 200 TAO to municipalities was decided, so even in just this short time nearly twice the number of the whole fiscal year 2007. And even in 2007 it was an extraordinary high number of upgrades, the years before it was always less than 10. After thinking about this, I remembered that the TAO were all created in four batches in 1995 to 1999. Thus last year the 1995 creations had their 12th anniversary, this year it's the 1996 creations. Thus with a 4 years term for the TAO council, this year the TAO created in 1996 have to held elections anyway, thus it would be more economically to do the municipality upgrade at the end of the TAO term, as after the upgrade a new election needs to be done anyway. While this does not explain way so many TAO become eligible for the upgrade now, at least it explains why so many upgrade in this two years. If my guessing is right, it'd mean that 2009 will see even more upgrades, as 1997 was the year with the biggest number of TAO establishments.

Or is the big number of upgrades related with the drop of the population density requirement? At the time I researched for the thesaban article on Wikipedia, I found a reference that for a subdistrict municipality a population density of 1,500 per km² is mandatory - not only most of sanitary district upgraded in 1999 did not match this, but also almost all the TAO upgraded now neither. But I have no idea when (and if) this requirement was actually dropped.

In Nakhon Ratchasima province it now has more than 70 municipalities, which now makes the geocode system mentioned earlier impossible. As the province already has 32 districts, now the municipality geocodes descending from 3099 and the district codes starting from 3001 must overlap already. And there even was at least one code in between (3049) used for a Sakha Tambon. So for the municipalities they have to change the way the geocodes get assigned. I have no idea if or how this was or will be done, I haven't found much about the codes for the municipalities on the web so far, even trying my luck with googeling Thai terms.

Book excerpt - A description of the Kingdom of Siam 1690

In 1690 the German physicist Engelbert Kaempfer made a visit to Ayutthaya on his way to Japan. About his travel he wrote a book, which however wasn't published during his lifetime. After his death in 1716 the Latin text was translated into English and published in 1727. The first part of this book covering the time in Siam is published separately under the title A description of the Kingdom of Siam, 1690. The section fitting to the topic of the blog from chapter II is as follows.

The Kingdom of Siam is by the Natives called Muan Thai, which is as much as to say, the Land Thai. In their books it is sounded with this Epithet, Krom Thep Pramma haa Ikoon, (Circuitus visitationis Deorum) the Cirtcuit of the Visitations of the Gods. The Malagans and Peguans call it Tziam, from whence comes the European name Siam. Its Northern Latitude about the middle of it, or where the Capital City is situated, is fourteen degrees eighteen minutes, and its Longitude according to the common Maps 138, but according to the late Observations of the Jesuits 120 degrees. Eastward it borders upon the Kingdoms Tunkin, Cosynsina and Cambodia; on the South it is limited by the Sea, and the Counrties of Malacca, of which the King of Siam possesses Ligoor, Tanasseri, and some other small Provinces. On the West if the Kingdom of Pegu, and on the North that of Laos. Considering its extend it is but indifferently peopled being best inhabited only along the banks of the Rivers. [...] This Kingdom contains twelve large provinces, each of which is govern'd by an Oja, or Prince, as the King's Lieutenant, who hath several Opera's, or subaltern Officers under him. Besides there is an Oja at Court for every Province, who manages its Concerns, and keeps a watchful Eye over the Lieutenant's conduct. The late King had added a thirteenth Province to the aforesaid twelve, which he conquer'd from the Kingdom of Laos, and in all probability he would have conquer'd more, if the swelling of a large River had not put a stop to his progress. But a few years after that Province was taken from him again, so that all the benefit of an expedition undertaken in so remoate a Country, and with so much expence, was only the creating of Jealousy between the two Nations, which ruin'd the former trade between them, and remov'd it to Cambodia.

I did not know before that the name Thailand (Mueang Thai) is in fact much older, and wasn't just created in the 1930s when the name of the country was officially changed from Siam to Thailand. Its a bit sad that the author did not name the 12 or 13 provinces, or those of the Malay kingdoms and provinces under Siam.

Municipal decisions from May 16

Meeting number 36 from May 16 2008 with 11 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Ho Krai (เทศบาลตำบลหอไกร), Bang Mun Nak district, Phichit province, effective July 17 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 60.76 km², 9 villages and 6,295 citizen.
• Nong Phayom (เทศบาลตำบลหนองพยอม), Bang Mun Nak district, Phichit province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 67.40 km², 11 villages and 7,174 citizen.
• San Na Meng (เทศบาลตำบลสันนาเม็ง), San Sai district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 8.95 km², 12 villages and 8,523 citizen.
• San Phranet (เทศบาลตำบลสันพระเนตร), San Sai district, Chiang Mai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 7 km², 6 villages and 5,030 citizen.
• Sala (เทศบาลตำบลศาลา), Ko Kha district, Lampang province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 19.50 km², 4 villages and 5,460 citizen.
• Wang Phoem (เทศบาลตำบลวังเพิ่ม), Si Chomphu district, Khon Kaen province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 34.20 km², 14 villages and 7,553 citizen.
• Nong Nam Sai (เทศบาลตำบลหนองน้ำใส), Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 101 km², 18 villages and 12,443 citizen.
• Khao Kaeo Si Sombun (เทศบาลตำบลเขาแก้วศรีสมบูรณ์), Thung Saliam district, Sukhothai province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 48.13 km², 11 villages and 8,065 citizen.
• Ban Tom (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านต๋อม), Mueang Phayao district, Phayao province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 56.94 km², 18 villages and 12,955 citizen.
• Khok Ma (เทศบาลตำบลโคกม้า), Prakhon Chai district, Buriram province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 38.25 km², 9 villages and 7,198 citizen.
• Budi (เทศบาลตำบลบุดี), Mueang Yala district, Yala province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 34.30 km², 8 villages and 9,794 citizen.

Municipal elections in Ko Samui

Since Ko Samui has been upgraded to higher municipal level, it now has to hold an election to appoint the members of the town council as well as the new mayor. Though I cannot find the actual numbers now, I remember to have read that the number of council members depends on the municipal level, so now after the municipal upgrade the constituencies must get adjusted accordingly.

I have borrowed the photo from the Japanese blog Soma Samui. While it was intended to show the bicycle rental shop to the left, it also quite prominently shows the election poster of former subdistrict municipality mayor Varakorn Rattanarak (วรากรณ์ รัตนรักษ์), one of the candidates for the new town mayor post. Strangely, this poster now shows again the word "Thesaban Nakhon" (เทศบาลนคร meaning city municipality), while as reported earlier apparently the initial decision to make it a city was revoked and the town status (thesaban mueang) was granted instead.

The newspaper Samui Express gives some background on the preparations for the election in the article Samui election heating up. According to that article the election will take place in "this month" (strange way to formulate in an article from July 21, why not state the planned date; anyway July is over already now) but may be delayed to September.

Municipal decisions for May 14 2008

The Legal Affairs Bureau has uploaded several new transcripts of the meetings, the new ones are the meetings from May 18 till July 25, a total of 21 files I have to work through and digest the relevant municipal changes. A quick overview over these documents showed that there were no less then 203 TAO being upgraded, so nearly double the 114 created in whole last fiscal year. Really lucky I have the TAO list complete so I can much easier process them. Anyway, expect a lot of postings like the one below in the next weeks, it'll take me some time to sort out that lot of changes. I just hope it won't have announcements in the Royal Gazette to report now or any important other new developments, otherwise I may have to publish more than one posting a day...

Meeting number 34 from May 14 2008 with 14 TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities.

• Tha Khon Yang (เทศบาลตำบลท่าขอนยาง), Kantharawichai district, Maha Sarakham province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 38 km², 15 villages and 8,287 citizen.
• Kham Riang (เทศบาลตำบลขามเรียง), Kantharawichai district, Maha Sarakham province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 48.05 km², 23 villages and 11,788 citizen.
• Khwao (เทศบาลตำบลขวาว), Selaphum district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 39.95 km², 16 villages and 9,320 citizen.
• Mueang Phrai (เทศบาลตำบลเมืองไพร), Selaphum district, Roi Et province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 40.60 km², 14 villages and 6,898 citizen.
• Nong Phue (เทศบาลตำบลหนองผือ), Khemarat district, Ubon Ratchathani province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 46.85 km², 14 villages and 9,296 citizen.
• Na Chan (เทศบาลตำบลนาจาน), Si Chomphu district, Khon Kaen province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 77 km², 15 villages and 10,072 citizen.
• Rang Ka Yai (เทศบาลตำบลรังกาใหญ่), Si Chomphu district, Khon Kaen province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 74.34 km², 20 villages and 14,720 citizen.
• Na An (เทศบาลตำบลนาอาน), Mueang Loei district, Loei province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 58.80 km², 12 villages and 11,493 citizen.
• Ban Song (เทศบาลตำบลบ้านซ่อง), Mueang Loei district, Loei province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 68.89 km², 14 villages and 10,006 citizen.
• Ko Taeo (เทศบาลตำบลเกาะแต้ว), Mueang Songkhla district, Songkhla province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 28.38 km², 10 villages and 10,596 citizen.
• Kwian Hak (เทศบาลตำบลเกวียนหัก), Ban Bueng district, Chanthaburi province, effective July 25 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 41.52 km², 10 villages and 4,452 citizen.
• Tha Chang (เทศบาลตำบลท่าช้าง), Wiset Chai Chan district, Ang Thong province, effective August 1 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 23.79 km², 9 villages and 5,048 citizen.
• Khok Sa-at (เทศบาลตำบลโคกสะอาด), Nong Bua Rawe district, Chaiyaphum province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 147.78 km², 9 villages and 5,566 citizen.
• Hua Na Kham (เทศบาลตำบลหัวนาคำ), Yang Talat district, Kalasin province, effective July 18 2008. The TAO was created in 1996, covers 83 km², 19 villages and 13,009 citizen.

Provincial Courts

When I earlier talked about the provincial halls, I also mentioned the provincial courts (ศาลจังหวัด, San Changwat) which are often located right next to the provincial hall, for example in Surat Thani (depicted). Yet when I passed through Talat Chaiya municipality, to my surprise I saw a provincial court there as well, named ศาลจังหวัดไชยา (San Changwat Chaiya). Though it is a provincial court, this does of course not mean that there is a province Chaiya, it's just that the province Surat Thani is so large that it is divided into several judiciary areas each having its own provincial court. As the website of the Office of the Judiciary explains

Provincial Courts exercise unlimited original jurisdiction in all general civil and criminal matters within their own districts which are generally the provinces themselves. For the purpose of expansion of services of the court to the distance area, some provinces may have more than one Provincial Court.

It seems that even myself fell into the trap of thinking the provincial court has something to do with provinces - in one of the first postings I speculated on a recreation of the province Lang Suan, but in fact that Royal Gazette announcement was about the provincial court in Lang Suan, and had nothing to do with a province hall as I suspected.

Within Surat Thani, my favourite province, it seems there are three provincial courts, one in Surat Thani city itself, one in Chaiya, and one on Ko Samui. But I haven't yet found a complete list of all the provincial (and municipal) courts with my limited Thai.