Samut Sakhon Province
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Capital: | Samut Sakhon |
| Area: | 872.3 km² Ranked 72nd |
| Inhabitants: | 466.281 (2000) Ranked 53rd |
| Pop. density: | 535 inh./km² Ranked 4th |
| ISO 3166-2: | TH-74 |
| Governor: | Thirabun Dopbukdi (since 2005) |
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Samut Sakhon (Thai สมุทรสาคร) is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from the southwest clockwise) Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom and Bangkok.
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[edit] Geography
Samut Sakhon is located at the mouth of the Tha Chin Klong river, a distributary of the Chao Phraya river, to the Gulf of Thailand. At the coast to the sea are many fields used for sea salt production.
[edit] History
The oldest name of the area is Tha Chin, probably referring to the fact that it was a trading port where Chinese junks arrived. In 1548 the city Sakhon Buri was established, and was renamed in 1704 to Mahachai after the khlong Mahachai which was dug then and connected with the Tha Chin river near the town. It was renamed by King Mongkut to its current name, however the old name Mahachai is still sometimes used by the locals.
[edit] Symbols
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The seal shows a Chinese junk in front of the coast, with a smoking chimney. Both refer to the old trading tradition as well as the local industries.
Provincial tree is the Devil Tree (Alstonia scholaris). |
[edit] Administrative divisions
The province is subdivided into 3 districts (Amphoe). The districts are further subdivided into 40 communes (tambon) and 288 villages (muban).
Altogether there are 7 municipal (thesaban) areas within the province - Samut Sakhon is the only city (thesaban nakhon), Krathum Baen and Om Noi are the two towns (thesaban mueang), and there are further 4 townships (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal areas are administrated by 30 Tambon administrative organizations (TAO).
