Aranyaprathet ( th, อรัญประเทศ, ) 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

Sa Kaeo province Sa Kaeo ( th, สระแก้ว, ) is one of the 76 provinces (''changwat'') and lies in eastern Thailand about 200 km from Bangkok. Neighboring provinces are (from south clockwise) Chanthaburi, Chachoengsao, Prachinburi, Nakhon Ratcha ...

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 ...

. It borders

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

to the east.

History

Aranyaprathet was originally a district in the Kabin Buri Province. On 1 April 1926 the province was abolished and the two districts Mueang Kabin Buri and Aranyapathet became districts of

Prachinburi province Prachinburi province ( th, ปราจีนบุรี, , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-seven provinces (''changwat''), it lies in eastern Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nakhon Ratchasima, Sa Kaeo, Chachoengsao, an ...

. In 1993 it was one of the districts that formed the new Sa Kaeo province.

Economy

Until the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

disrupted neighbouring Cambodia in 1975, Aranyaprathet was a stop on the railroad connecting

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

with the Cambodian capital

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

. Aranyaprathet maintains its rail link with Bangkok but

Poipet Poipet ( km, ប៉ោយប៉ែត, ) is a boomtown on the Cambodian-Thai border, in Poipet Municipality, Banteay Meanchey Province. It is a key crossing point between the two countries, and also extremely popular as a gambling desti ...

, the neighbouring Cambodian town, has still yet to see any rail activity since the Khmer Rouge destroyed the track. Southeast of central Aranyaprathet, six kilometres distant, is the busiest border crossing between

and

. In addition to being on a major trade route, the border sees much tourist activity as it is on the road between Bangkok and

Siem Reap Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...

, the town nearest

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...

. Aran, as the town is known in Thailand, has been affected by the growth of the

gambling industry A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

in Poipet. Despite

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

being illegal in both Thailand and Cambodia, the Cambodian government has granted concessions for casinos to be built at many of its land crossings. Cambodians are not permitted to gamble in the casinos. Poipet's proximity to Bangkok (3-5 hrs by road) has made it the most popular of these border casino areas. It now hosts seven casinos.

Administration

Aranyaprathet is divided into 13 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 114 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'').

Stadium

Aranyaprathet District Stadium ( th, สนามกีฬาอำเภออรัญประเทศ สวนกาญจนาภิเษก) is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches and was the home stadium of Sa Kaeo F.C.

References

{{Amphoe Sa Kaeo

Aranyaprathet Aranyaprathet (Thai: อรัญประเทศ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Sa Kaeo province in eastern Thailand . It covers the entire ''tambon'' of Aranyaprathet, in Aranyaprathet district. As of 2005, the town has 16,937 inhabitant ...

Cambodia–Thailand border crossings