Takua Pa ( th, ตะกั่วป่า, ) is a district (''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', th, อำเภอ, )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to countie ...

'') in Phang Nga province in south

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Geography

The district is on the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...

coast. To the north of the district is

Si Phang Nga National Park Si Phang Nga National Park ( th, ศรีพังงา) is in Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand, covering the eastern parts of the districts Khura Buri and Takua Pa. The landscape of the park is dominated by rugged mountains covered w ...

. The southern part of the district contains Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park, which includes the beach resorts of

Khao Lak Khao Lak ( th, เขาหลัก, ) is a series of villages, now tourist-oriented, mainly in the Takua Pa District and partly in the Thai Mueang District of Phang Nga Province, Thailand. The name "Khao Lak" literally translated means 'Mai ...

, devastated by the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

resulting from the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

. Neighboring districts are Khura Buri to the north, Phanom of Surat Thani province, Kapong to the east, and

Thai Mueang Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode bloc ...

to the south.

History

Originally named ''Takola'' (), the town was one of the historic city states (''

mueang Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principali ...

'') dating back to

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

times in the 13th century. It was also known as ''Takkolam'' () which is the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

word for "piper cubeba" and "calyptranthes jambalana". There is also a place in the Tamil country which up to now carries the same name ''Takkolam''. Takua Pa could have either abounded in the spices "calyptranthese jambalana" and "piper cubeba" or it could have been occupied by settlers from the Takkolam of the Tamil country, or both. Takua Pa is said to have been the finest harbor on the west coast of the peninsula for trade between the kingdom of Srivijaya and the early

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

kingdoms of the

Cholas The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

and

Pallavas The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahanas, Satavahana dynasty, with whom they ...

during different times in history. It was later renamed ''Takua Pa'' due to the rich ores found near the town: ''takua'' (ตะกั่ว) is the Thai word for

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, even though

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

was the most important ore found there. Laem Pho Beach in the

Chaiya district Chaiya ( th, ไชยา, ) is a former capital district ('' Amphoe mueang'') of Surat Thani province, Southern Thailand. The main town is Talat Chaiya. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Tha Chang and Kapoe of R ...

of Surat Thani province, on the other side of the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

200 km distant, is thought to have been a Srivijaya Kingdom seaport in the 7th to 13th centuries. Srivijaya was an Indonesian city-state that grew to become an influential maritime power in what is now

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(7th–10th centuries) ceramics have been found in the area as well as pottery from India and glassware from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Similar finds have been made in Ban Thung Tuek of Takua Pa District, indicating that there may have been an overland route connecting the Gulf of Thailand with the

coast. This route would have enabled traders to avoid piracy in the narrow

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

. There was a Hindu/Vishnu temple there in the 8th century CE. An important mercantile organisation called ''Kodumbalur Manigramam'', built a water tank for this temple. They left an inscription in Tamil. The tank was called "Avani Naaranam", the name of one of the Pallava Emperors of Tamil Nadu. The town was long administered by

Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat prov ...

. In 1892 it was converted to a province, part of the

Monthon Phuket ''Monthon'' ( th, มณฑล) were Administrative divisions of Thailand, administrative subdivisions of Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. The Thai word ''monthon'' is a translation of the word ''mandala'' (', literally "Circle (count ...

. This province was merged into Phang Nga Province on 1 April 1932. The district, Talat Yai ('big market', ตลาดใหญ่), was then renamed Takua Pa. The district was an important tin-dredging area in the first half of the 20th century, with the English company, Siamese Tin Syndicate Ltd., and the Australian company, Satupulo No Liability Co., both operating dredges in the rivers, with narrow-gauge tramways following them upstream. The Asiatic Company also had a dredge and tramway further inland in Kapong District, depicted in the Thai film, ''

The Tin Mine ''The Tin Mine'' ( th, มหา’ลัย เหมืองแร่ or ''Maha'lai muang rae'') is a 2005 Thai biographical drama film directed by Jira Maligool. It is adapted from short stories by Ajin Panjapan and his semi-autobiographical ...

''. Siamese Tin operated here at least as late as 1967, but Thai firms assumed operations by the early-1980s. By 2008 there were no remaining signs of mining, as plantations, particularly rubber, covered the former dredged areas. The public library at Takua Pa town has photographs on display of the dredging and sluicing operations in their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. The former Asiatic Company workshops can also still be seen in Kapong town. The centre for the identification of bodies found after the 2004 tsunami is in the district. Opposite the identification centre is the cemetery where all unidentified foreign bodies have been buried. Laid out somewhat like the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Kanchanaburi. By late-2008 the cemetery was overgrown, run down, and inhabited by feral dogs.

Administration

Central administration

Takua Pa district is divided into eight sub-districts (''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province (''changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' ...

s''), which are further subdivided into 51 administrative villages (''

muban Muban ( th, หมู่บ้าน; , ) is the lowest administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74,944 administrative mu ...

s'').

Local administration

There is one town (''

thesaban mueang Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

'') in the district: * Takua Pa (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Takua Pa. There are two sub-district municipalities (''

thesaban tambon Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

'') in the district: * Bang Nai Si (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Bang Nai Si. * Khuek Khak (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Khuek Khak. There are four subdistrict administrative organizations (SAO) in the district: * Bang Sai (Thai: ) consisting of sub-districts Bang Sai and Tam Tua. * Bang Muang (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Bang Muang. * Khok Khian (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Khok Khian. * Ko Kho Khao (Thai: ) consisting of sub-district Ko Kho Khao. Takua Pa itself has town (''

'') status and covers the complete ''tambon'' Takua Pa. There are six

tambon administrative organization ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province (''changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' ...

s (TAO). Takua Pa is administered by the town council and Tam Tua by a neighboring TAO, Bang Sai.

Climate

References

External links

*
amphoe.com
(Thai)

{{Amphoe Phang Nga

Takua Pa Takua Pa ( th, ตะกั่วป่า, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in Phang Nga province in south Thailand. Geography The district is on the Andaman Sea coast. To the north of the district is Si Phang Nga National Park. The southern part ...

Populated places in Phang Nga province