Pak Phanang ( th, ปากพนัง, ) 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 ...

'') of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, southern Thailand. The name of district means 'sheltered mouth', referring to the mouth of the Pak Phanang River protected from the open sea by a long peninsula.

History

During the ''thesaphiban'' administrative reforms the district was created in 1895 with the name ''Bia Sad'' (เบิ้ยซัด). On 22 March 1903 it was renamed ''Pak Phanang'', a name first recorded for the area in 1665. On 25 October 1962

Tropical Storm Harriet Tropical Storm Harriet was a tropical cyclone that hit Thailand and East Pakistan in October 1962. It formed in the South China Sea before making landfall in Southern Thailand and crossing the Malay Peninsula into the Bay of Bengal. It caused ex ...

hit the district. The low Talumphuk peninsula to the north of the district was completely devastated, and even in the town Pak Phanang itself the storm surge made the water rise four metres. The flooding caused more than 1,000 fatalities and many more homeless. It is the most severe windstorm that has ever occurred in Thailand recorded.

Geography

Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Hua Sai, Chian Yai, Chaloem Phra Kiat and Mueang Nakhon Si Thammarat. To the east is the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

. The most striking geographical feature is the long elongated peninsula known as Laem Talumphuk ('

toli shad The toli shad or Chinese herring (''Tenualosa toli'') is a fish of the family Clupeidae, a species of shad distributed in the western Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal to the Java Sea and the South China Sea. It may be found in Mauritius and th ...

cape'), which is formed of sand deposited by the predominantly northward current interacting with the outflow of the Pak Phanang River ( th, แม่น้ำปากพนัง). The shallow bay formed by the peninsula is about 3 km wide at the mouth of the river and 10 km at the top of the peninsula. Originally the coastline of the bay consisted of tidal flats and mangrove forests, however a lot of the western coast had been converted into shrimp farms.

Economy

"Bird's nest condos" are said to dominate the skyline of the district. The purpose-built buildings were constructed to encourage nest building by

edible-nest swiftlet The edible-nest swiftlet (''Aerodramus fuciphagus''), also known as the white-nest swiftlet, is a small bird of the swift family which is found in Southeast Asia. Its opaque and whitish bird nest is made exclusively of solidified saliva and is t ...

s when the price of edible bird's nests boomed following the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

. Pak Phanang has more than 500 farm buildings and each can generate income of around 50 million baht per year. the export price of farmed nests is around 80,000 baht per kilo. Exported to China, the price doubles, selling for up to 160,000 baht per kilo. In Thailand, the number of nests extracted from caves is roughly 300 tonnes per year compared with just 100 tonnes from buildings, largely attributable to artificial birdhouses being illegal in Thailand. The business is "grey" and "underground".

Administration

The district is divided into 18 sub-districts ('' tambons''), which are further subdivided into 133 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''). Pak Phanang is a 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 ...

'') which includes ''tambon'' Pak Phanang and parts of ''tambon'' Hu Long, Pak Phanang Fang Tawan Tok, Pak Phanang Fang Tawan Ok, and Bang Phra. There are a further 17 tambon administrative organizations.

References

External links

amphoe.com
*Boromthanarat, S., Cobb, S., Lee, V. (1991). ''Coastal Management in Pak Phanang: A Historical Perspective of the Resources and Issues''. Hat Yai, Thailand: Coastal Resources Institute, Prince of Songkla Universit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak Phanang Districts of Nakhon Si Thammarat province