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Songkhla Province
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Statistics | |
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| Capital: | Songkhla |
| Area: | 7,393.9 km² Ranked 26th |
| Inhabitants: | 1,317,501 (2006) Ranked 11th |
| Pop. density: | 178 inh./km² Ranked 14th |
| ISO 3166-2: | TH-90 |
| Governor: | Sonthi Techanan (since November 2006) |
| Map | |
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Songkhla (Thai: สงขลา) is the one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from east clockwise) Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia.
In contrast to most other provinces, the capital Songkhla is not the largest city in the province. The much newer city of Hat Yai, with a population of 194,000, is twice as big as Songkhla. This often leads to the misconception that Hat Yai is the provincial capital.
Both cities are part of Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area.
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The province is located on the Malay Peninsula, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The highest elevation is the Khao Mai Kaeo at 821 meters.
In the north of the province is Songkhla lake, the biggest natural lake in Thailand. This shallow lake covers an area of 1,040 km², and has a south-north extent of 78 kilometers. At its mouth on the Gulf of Thailand near the city of Songkhla, the water becomes brackish. A small population of Irrawaddy Dolphins live in the lake, but are in danger of extinction due to being accidentally caught in the nets of the local fishing industry.
Two national parks are located in the province. San Kala Khiri covers 214 km² of mountain highlands at the Thai-Malay border; Khao Nam Khang, also located at the boundary mountains, includes shelters of Chinese Communists guerilla until the 1980s.
The name Songkhla is actually the Thai corruption of Singgora, its original name means 'the city of lions' in Malay. This refers to a lion-shaped mountain near the city of Songkhla.
Songkhla was the seat of an old Malay Kingdom with heavy Srivijayan influence. In ancient times (200 AD - 1400 AD), Songkhla formed the northern extremity of the Malay Kingdom of Langkasuka. The city-state then became a tributary of Nakhon Si Thammarat, suffering damage during several attempts to gain independence. Since the 18th century, Songkla has been firmly under Thai suzerainty.
In the 18th century many Chinese immigrants, especially from Guangdong and Fujian, came to the province. Quickly rising to economic wealth, one of them won the bidding for the major tax farm of the province in 1769, establishing the Na Songkhla (i.e. 'from Songkla') family as the most wealthy and influential. In 1777 the family also gained political power, when the old governor was dismissed and Luang Inthakhiri (Yiang, Chinese name Wu Rang (呉譲)) became the new governor. In 1786 the old governor started an uprising, which was however put down after four months. The post was inherited in the family and held by 8 of his descendends until 1901, when Phraya Wichiankhiri (Chom) was honorably retired as part of the administrative reforms of Prince Damrong Rajanubhab. The family's former home is now used as the Songkhla National Museum.
In 1909, Songkla was formally annexed by Siam as part of Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 negotiated with the British Empire. Songkla was the scene of heavy fighting when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Thailand on 8 December 1941.
Songkhla was not initially affected by the recent outbreak of Pattani Separatism, which began in 2004. However, three bombs exploded during the 2005 Songkhla bombings on April 3, 2005 creating concern that violence might spread into this province as well.
About a third of the population are Muslim, most of which are of Malay ancestry. The Songkhla Malays are very similar in ethnicity and culture to the Malays of Kelantan, Malaysia. They speak the Patani Malay language. The ethnic Thai and Chinese make up the remainder.
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The provincial seal shows a conch shell on a tray with glass decorations. The origin of the conch shell is unclear, but the most widely adopted interpretation is that it was a decoration on the jacket of the Prince of Songkhla.
The provincial tree is the Sa-dao-thiam (Azadirachta excelsa). |
Songkhla is subdivided into 16 districts (Amphoe), which are further subdivided into 127 communes (tambon) and 987 villages (muban).
The districts of Chana (Malay: Chenok), Thepa (Malay:Tiba) and Saba Yoi (Malay:Sebayu) were detached from Pattani and transferred to Songkhla in recent times by the Thai government.
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- Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand
- Website of the province
- Songkhla provincial map, coat of arms and postal stamp
