Provinces of Thailand

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The provinces of Thailand are part of the government of Thailand that is divided into 76 provinces (Thai: จังหวัด, RTGS: changwat, pronounced [t͡ɕāŋ.wàt]) proper and one special administrative area (Thai: เขตปกครองส่วนท้องถิ่นรูปแบบพิเศษ), representing the capital Bangkok.^[3][4][5] They are the primary local government units and are divided into amphoes (districts) and also act as juristic persons. Each province is led by a governor (ผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด phu wa ratchakan changwat), who is appointed by the central government.

The provinces and administrative areas[]

Seal	Name	Name (in Thai)	Population (2019)[1]	Area (km2)[2]	Population density	Namesake town/city	HS[6]	ISO[7]	FIPS
	Bangkok (special administrative area)	กรุงเทพมหานคร	5,666,264	1,564	3,623	Bangkok	BKK	TH-10	TH40
	Amnat Charoen	อำนาจเจริญ	378,438	3,290	115	Amnat Charoen	ACR	TH-37	TH77
	Ang Thong	อ่างทอง	279,654	950	294	Ang Thong	ATG	TH-15	TH35
	Bueng Kan	บึงกาฬ	424,091	4,003	106	Bueng Kan	BKN	TH-38	TH81
	Buriram	บุรีรัมย์	1,595,747	10,080	159	Buriram	BRM	TH-31	TH28
	Chachoengsao	ฉะเชิงเทรา	720,113	5,169	139	Chachoengsao	CCO	TH-24	TH44
	Chai Nat	ชัยนาท	326,611	2,506	131	Chai Nat	CNT	TH-18	TH32
	Chaiyaphum	ชัยภูมิ	1,137,357	12,698	91	Chaiyaphum	CPM	TH-36	TH26
	Chanthaburi	จันทบุรี	537,698	6,415	84	Chanthaburi	CTI	TH-22	TH48
	Chiang Mai	เชียงใหม่	1,779,254	22,135	79	Chiang Mai	CMI	TH-50	TH02
	Chiang Rai	เชียงราย	1,298,304	11,503	113	Chiang Rai	CRI	TH-57	TH03
	Chonburi	ชลบุรี	1,558,301	4,508	346	Chonburi	CBI	TH-20	TH46
	Chumphon	ชุมพร	511,304	5,998	85	Chumphon	CPN	TH-86	TH58
	Kalasin	กาฬสินธุ์	983,418	6,936	142	Kalasin	KSN	TH-46	TH23
	Kamphaeng Phet	กำแพงเพชร	725,867	8,512	86	Kamphaeng Phet	KPT	TH-62	TH11
	Kanchanaburi	กาญจนบุรี	895,525	19,385	46	Kanchanaburi	KRI	TH-71	TH50
	Khon Kaen	ขอนแก่น	1,802,872	10,659	169	Khon Kaen	KKN	TH-40	TH22
	Krabi	กระบี่	476,739	5,323	90	Krabi	KBI	TH-81	TH63
	Lampang	ลำปาง	738,316	12,488	59	Lampang	LPG	TH-52	TH06
	Lamphun	ลำพูน	405,075	4,478	92	Lamphun	LPN	TH-51	TH05
	Loei	เลย	642,950	10,500	61	Loei	LEI	TH-42	TH18
	Lopburi	ลพบุรี	755,556	6,493	116	Lopburi	LRI	TH-16	TH34
	Mae Hong Son	แม่ฮ่องสอน	284,138	12,765	23	Mae Hong Son	MSN	TH-58	TH01
	Maha Sarakham	มหาสารคาม	962,665	5,607	172	Maha Sarakham	MKM	TH-44	TH24
	Mukdahan	มุกดาหาร	353,174	4,126	87	Mukdahan	MDH	TH-49	TH78
	Nakhon Nayok	นครนายก	260,751	2,141	122	Nakhon Nayok	NYK	TH-26	TH43
	Nakhon Pathom	นครปฐม	920,030	2,142	430	Nakhon Pathom	NPT	TH-73	TH53
	Nakhon Phanom	นครพนม	719,136	5,637	127	Nakhon Phanom	NPM	TH-48	TH73
	Nakhon Ratchasima	นครราชสีมา	2,648,927	20,736	128	Nakhon Ratchasima	NMA	TH-30	TH27
	Nakhon Sawan	นครสวรรค์	1,059,887	9,526	111	Nakhon Sawan	NSN	TH-60	TH16
	Nakhon Si Thammarat	นครศรีธรรมราช	1,561,927	9,885	158	Nakhon Si Thammarat	NRT	TH-80	TH64
	Nan	น่าน	478,227	12,130	40	Nan	NAN	TH-55	TH04
	Nong Bua Lamphu	หนองบัวลำภู	512,780	4,099	125	Nong Bua Lam Phu	NBP	TH-39	TH79
	Nong Khai	หนองคาย	522,311	3,275	160	Nong Khai	NKI	TH-43	TH17
	Nonthaburi	นนทบุรี	1,265,387	637	1,986	Nonthaburi	NBI	TH-12	TH38
	Pathum Thani	ปทุมธานี	1,163,604	1,520	766	Pathum Thani	PTE	TH-13	TH39
	Phang Nga	พังงา	268,788	5,495	49	Phang Nga	PNA	TH-82	TH61
	Phatthalung	พัทลุง	524,865	3,861	135	Phatthalung	PLG	TH-93	TH66
	Phayao	พะเยา	472,356	6,189	76	Phayao	PYO	TH-56	TH41
	Phetchabun	เพชรบูรณ์	992,451	12,340	80	Phetchabun	PNB	TH-67	TH14
	Phetchaburi	เพชรบุรี	485,191	6,172	77	Phetchaburi	PBI	TH-76	TH56
	Phichit	พิจิตร	536,311	4,319	124	Phichit	PCT	TH-66	TH13
	Phitsanulok	พิษณุโลก	865,247	10,589	82	Phitsanulok	PLK	TH-65	TH12
	Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya	พระนครศรีอยุธยา	820,188	2,548	322	Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya	AYA	TH-14	TH36
	Phrae	แพร่	441,726	6,483	68	Phrae	PRE	TH-54	TH07
	Phuket	ภูเก็ต	416,582	547	762	Phuket	PKT	TH-83	TH62
	Prachinburi	ปราจีนบุรี	494,680	5,026	99	Prachinburi	PRI	TH-25	TH74
	Prachuap Khiri Khan	ประจวบคีรีขันธ์	554,116	6,414	88	Prachuap Khiri Khan	PKN	TH-77	TH57
	Ranong	ระนอง	193,370	3,230	60	Ranong	RNG	TH-85	TH59
	Ratchaburi	ราชบุรี	873,101	5,189	168	Ratchaburi	RBR	TH-70	TH52
	Rayong	ระยอง	734,753	3,666	201	Rayong	RYG	TH-21	TH47
	Roi Et	ร้อยเอ็ด	1,305,211	7,873	166	Roi Et	RET	TH-45	TH25
	Sa Kaeo	สระแก้ว	566,303	6,831	83	Sa Kaeo	SKW	TH-27	TH80
	Sakon Nakhon	สกลนคร	1,153,390	9,580	121	Sakon Nakhon	SNK	TH-47	TH20
	Samut Prakan	สมุทรปราการ	1,344,875	947	1,420	Samut Prakan	SPK	TH-11	TH42
	Samut Sakhon	สมุทรสาคร	584,703	866	675	Samut Sakhon	SKN	TH-74	TH55
	Samut Songkhram	สมุทรสงคราม	193,305	414	467	Samut Songkhram	SKM	TH-75	TH54
	Saraburi	สระบุรี	645,911	3,499	185	Saraburi	SRI	TH-19	TH37
	Sing Buri	สิงห์บุรี	208,446	817	255	Sing Buri	SBR	TH-17	TH33
	Sisaket	ศรีสะเกษ	1,472,859	8,936	165	Sisaket	SSK	TH-33	TH30
	Sukhothai	สุโขทัย	595,072	6,671	89	Sukhothai (Sukhothai Thani)	STI	TH-64	TH09
	Suphan Buri	สุพรรณบุรี	846,334	5,410	156	Suphan Buri	SPB	TH-72	TH51
	Surat Thani	สุราษฎร์ธานี	1,068,010	13,079	81	Surat Thani	SNI	TH-84	TH60
	Surin	สุรินทร์	1,396,831	8,854	157	Surin	SRN	TH-32	TH29
	Tak	ตาก	665,620	17,303	39	Tak	TAK	TH-63	TH08
	Trang	ตรัง	643,164	4,726	136	Trang	TRG	TH-92	TH65
	Trat	ตราด	229,958	2,866	78	Trat	TRT	TH-23	TH49
	Ubon Ratchathani	อุบลราชธานี	1,878,146	15,626	120	Ubon Ratchathani	UBN	TH-34	TH75
	Udon Thani	อุดรธานี	1,586,646	11,072	143	Udon Thani	UDN	TH-41	TH76
	Uthai Thani	อุทัยธานี	328,618	6,647	50	Uthai Thani	UTI	TH-61	TH15
	Uttaradit	อุตรดิตถ์	453,103	7,906	58	Uttaradit	UTD	TH-53	TH10
	Yasothon	ยโสธร	537,299	4,131	130	Yasothon	YST	TH-35	TH72

• The total population of Thailand is 66,558,935 on 31 December 2019.^[1]
• The total land area of Thailand is 517,646 km² in 2013.^[2]
• HS – Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.
• FIPS code is replaced on 31 December 2014 with ISO 3166.

Governance[]

Thailand's national government organisation is divided into three types: central government (ministries, bureaus and departments), provincial government (provinces and districts) and local government (Bangkok, Pattaya, provincial administrative organisations, etc.).

A province, as part of the provincial government, is administered by a governor (ผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด) who is appointed by the Minister of Interior. Bangkok, as part of the local government, is administered by a corporation called Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The corporation is led by the Governor of Bangkok (ผู้ว่าราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร) who is directly elected by the citizens of Bangkok.

The provinces are named by their original main city, which is not necessarily still the most populous city within the province today. Also, in several provinces the administration has been moved into a new building outside the city.

History[]

Before 1892[]

Many provinces date back to semi-independent local chiefdoms or kingdoms, which made up the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The provinces were created around a capital city (mueang), and included surrounding villages or satellite towns. The provinces were administered either by a governor, who was appointed by the king or by a local ruling family, who were descendants of the old kings and princes of that area and had been given this privilege by the central king. De facto the king did not have much choice but to choose someone from the local nobility or an economically strong man, as against these local power groups the administration would have become impossible. The governor was not paid by the king, but instead financed himself and his administration by imposing local taxes himself. Every province was required to send an annual tribute to Bangkok.

The provinces were divided into four different classes. The first-class were the border provinces. The second-class were those that once had their own princely house. Third-class were provinces that were created by splitting them from other provinces. Fourth-class were provinces near the capital. Additionally tributary states like the principalities of Lan Na, the Laotian kingdoms of Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Cambodia, or the Malay sultanate Kedah were also part of the country, but with more autonomy than the provinces. In this Mandala system the semi-independent countries sometimes were tributary to more than one country.

New provinces were created when the population of an area outgrew the administration, but also for political reasons. If a governor became too dominant in a region former satellite cities were elevated to provincial status, as was the case with Maha Sarakham province.

Reforms of the provincial administration started in the 1870s under increased pressure from the colonial states of the United Kingdom and France. Agents were sent, especially to border areas, to impose more control on the provinces or tributary states.

Administrative reform of 1892[]

Map of Siam in 1900

At the end of the 19th century King Chulalongkorn reformed the central government. In 1892 the ministry, which previously had many overlapping responsibilities, was reorganized with clear missions as in Western administrations. Prince Damrong Rajanubhab became minister of the Ministry of the North (Mahatthai), originally responsible for the northern administration. When the Ministry of the South (Kalahom) was dissolved in 1894, Prince Damrong became Minister of the Interior, responsible for the provincial administration of the whole country.

Starting in 1893 the already existing commissionaireships in some parts of the country were renamed "superintendent commissioner" (khaluang Thesaphiban), and their area of responsibility was called a monthon. In strategically important areas the monthon were created first, while in other areas the provinces kept their independence a bit longer. Several smaller provinces were reduced in status to a amphoe (district) or even lower to a tambon (sub-district) and included in a neighboring province, sometimes for administrative reasons, but sometimes to remove an uncooperative governor.

In some regions rebellions broke out against the new administrative system, usually induced by the local nobility fearing their loss of power. The most notable was the Holy Man Rebellion in 1902 in Isan. It was initially a messianic doomsday sect, but it also attacked government representatives in the northeast. The provincial town Khemarat was even burned by the rebels. After a few months the rebellion was beaten back.^[8]

After 1916, the word changwat became common to use for the provinces, partly to distinguish them from the provincial capital city (mueang or amphoe mueang), but also to stress the new administrative structure of the provinces.^[9]

Cities and Monthons in 1900^[10]

When Prince Damrong resigned in 1915, the whole country was divided into 19 monthon (including the area around Bangkok, which was under the responsibility of another ministry until 1922), with 72 provinces.

In December 1915 King Vajiravudh announced the creation of regions (phak), each administered by a viceroy (upparat), to cover several monthon. Until 1922 four regions were established, however in 1925 they were dissolved again. At the same time several monthon were merged, in an attempt to streamline administration and reduce costs.

Since 1932[]

The monthons were dissolved when Thailand transformed from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy in 1932, making the provinces the top level administrative division again. Several smaller provinces were also abolished at that time. During World War II, several provinces around Bangkok were merged. These changes were undone after the war. Also the occupied area from French Indochina was organized into four provinces: Phra Tabong, Phibunsongkhram, Nakhon Champasak and Lan Chang. The current province of Sukhothai was at first known as Sawankhalok. It was renamed Sukhothai in 1939 (which is why the railway system goes to Sawankhalok city and not Sukhothai city). The province, Kalasin, was reestablished in 1947 after having been dissolved in 1932.

In 1972 Phra Nakhon and Thonburi provinces were merged to form the special administrative area of Bangkok, which combines the tasks of the provinces with that of a municipality, including having an elected governor.

Starting in the second half of the 20th century some provinces were newly created by splitting them off from bigger provinces. In 1975, Yasothon province was split off from Ubon Ratchathani. In 1977, Phayao province was created from districts formerly part of Chiang Rai. In 1982, Mukdahan was split off from Nakhon Phanom. In 1993 three provinces were created: Sa Kaeo (split from Prachinburi), Nong Bua Lamphu province (split from Udon Thani), and Amnat Charoen (split from Ubon Ratchathani). The newest province is Bueng Kan, which was split off from Nong Khai effective 23 March 2011.

Former provinces and administrative areas[]

Former provinces merged into other provinces[]

Lost territories[]

Province	Capital	Period	Fate	Today part of
Prachankiriket[15]	Prachankiriket	1855–1904	Pursat and Kampot, French Indochina	Pursat and Koh Kong,  Cambodia
Lan Chang (formerly Chaiburi)	Sama Buri	until 1904 1941–1946	Luang Prabang, French Indochina	Sainyabuli and Luang Prabang,  Laos
Phra Tabong	Battambang	until 1907 1941–1946	Battambang, French Indochina	Battambang and Pailin,  Cambodia
Phibunsongkhram	Sisophon	1941–1946	Battambang, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom and Stung Treng, French Indochina	Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap,  Cambodia
Nakhon Champassak	Champasak	until-1904 1941–1946	Kompong Thom, Stung Treng and Bassac, French Indochina	Preah Vihear and Stung Treng,  Cambodia Champasak,  Laos
Syburi	Alor Setar	until-1909 1943–1945	Kedah, British Malaya	Kedah,  Malaysia
Palit	Kangar	until-1909 1943–1945	Perlis, British Malaya	Perlis,  Malaysia
Kalantan	Kota Bharu	until-1909 1943–1945	Kelantan, British Malaya	Kelantan,  Malaysia
Trangkanu	Kuala Terengganu	until-1909 1943–1945	Terengganu, British Malaya	Terengganu,  Malaysia
Saharat Thai Doem	Chiang Tung	1943–1945	Karenni State and Shan State, British Burma	Kayah State and Shan State  Myanmar

Map of Siam in 1871 showing provinces.

See also[]

• ISO 3166-2:TH
• List of districts of Thailand
• List of Thai provinces by GPP
• Nationality, religion, and language data for the provinces of Thailand
• Organization of the government of Thailand
• Seals of the provinces of Thailand

References[]

Further reading[]

• Tej Bunnag (1977). The Provincial Administration of Siam, 1892–1915: the Ministry of the Interior under Prince Damrong Rajanubhab. Kuala Lumpur; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-580343-4.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Provinces of Thailand.

• Department of Provincial Administration
• Pronunciation of provinces in Thailand at www.forvo.com