Myeik (, or ; mnw, ဗိက်, ; th, มะริด, , ; formerly Mergui, ) is a rural city in

Tanintharyi Region Tanintharyi Region ( my, တနင်္သာရီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; Mon: or ; ms, Tanah Sari; formerly Tenasserim Division and subsequently Tanintharyi Division, th, ตะนาวศรี, RTGS: ''Tanao Si'', ; ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Burma), located in the extreme south of the country on the coast off an island 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 ...

. , the estimated population was over 209,000. ''World Gazetteer'' Myeik is the largest city in Tanintharyi Region, and serves as the regional headquarters of

Myanmar Navy The Myanmar Navy ( my, တပ်မတော် (ရေ); ) is the naval warfare branch of the armed forces of Myanmar. With 24,000 personnel on duty, the navy operates more than 150 vessels. Prior to 1988, the navy was small, and its role in c ...

's Tanintharyi Regional Command. The area inland from the city is a major smuggling corridor into

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 ...

. The

Singkhon Pass Singkhon Pass ( th, ด่านสิงขร), also referred to as Sing Khon and as Maw Daung after the name of the Burmese town west of the border, is a pass across the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, at an eleva ...

, also known as the Maw-daung Pass, has an international cross-border checkpoint.

History

Myeik was the southernmost part of the

Pagan Kingdom The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...

between the 11th and 13th centuries. After the Pagan Empire's collapse in 1287, Myeik became part of successive Thai kingdoms from the late 13th century to the middle of 18th century: first the

Sukhothai Kingdom The Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom (mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was fo ...

and later the Ayutthaya Kingdom. A brief period of Burmese rule interrupted this between 1564 and 1593. From the 16th century on, the city was an important seaport and trading center with the Europeans, who would land at Mergui, travel upriver to Tenasserim and then cross the mountains to reach

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...

. The French officer Chevalier de Beauregard was made Governor of the city of Myeik after the

Anglo-Siamese War The Anglo-Siamese War (or Anglo-Thai WarOm Prakash, ''The New Cambridge History of India, Volume 2, Part 5: European Commercial Enterprise in Pre-Colonial India'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 289.) was a brief state of war that existed ...

(1687) that resulted in the English being expelled from Siam. De Beauregard was named Governor by

Narai King Narai the Great ( th, สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( th, รามาธิบดีที่ ๓ ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the P ...

, the king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, replacing an Englishman, Samuel White. The French were then expelled from Myeik following the

Siamese revolution of 1688 The Siamese revolution of 1688 was a major popular uprising in the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom (modern Thailand) which led to the overthrow of the pro-French Siamese king Narai. Phetracha, previously one of Narai's trusted military advisors, too ...

. The Burmese captured Myeik in 1765 as part of an invasion that would ultimately topple the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767. In 1826, the Burmese ceded the region to the British after the

First Anglo-Burmese War The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmes ...

(1824–1826). In the Pacific Theater of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

ese forces used laborers to construct the

Mergui Road Mergui Road was a transit route in the area of the Singkhon Pass between Burma and Thailand, built and used during World War II by Imperial Japan. The road connected Prachuap Khiri Khan to Mergui via Tenasserim on the Burmese south coast. It was ...

to aid their retreat after rail line were destroyed by Allied bombings.

Climate

Myeik has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am'') that is hot throughout the year. After a short dry season centred on December and January, there is a long wet season from mid-March to mid-November. Heavy rainfall usually occurs from May to September.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the city are descended from many ethnic groups, including

Burman Burman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anneli Burman (born 1963), Swedish curler *Barney Burman Barney Burman is an American makeup artist and character actor. He was part of the team that won an Academy Award in 2009 fo ...

Burmese Indian Burmese Indians are a group of people of Indian origin who live in Myanmar (Burma). The term 'Burmese Indian' refers to a broad range of people from South Asia, most notably from present-day countries such as India, Bangladesh and also Pakis ...

, Burmese Chinese,

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

, Mon, and

Moken The Moken (also ''Mawken or'' ''Morgan''; ; th, ชาวเล, lit=sea people, translit=chao le) are an Austronesian people of the Mergui Archipelago, a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand. Most of the 2, ...

. They speak a dialect of the

Burmese language Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the count ...

known as the

Myeik dialect The Myeik dialect, also known as Beik in Burmese, Mergui and Merguese in English, and Marit (มะริด) in Thai, is a divergent dialect of Burmese, spoken in Myeik, the second largest town in Tanintharyi Region, the southernmost region o ...

. According to the 2014 census, Myeik has a total population of 284,498.

Attractions

Myeik is home to notable several

Burmese pagoda Burmese pagodas are stupas that typically house Buddhist relics, including relics associated with Buddha. Pagodas feature prominently in Myanmar's landscape, earning the country the moniker "land of pagodas." According to 2016 statistics compil ...

s, the largest of which is the Theindawgyi Pagoda and Paw Daw Mu Pagoda is famous too.

Economy

The population is primarily engaged in resource extraction industries like

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, the production of

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

s, the collection of

edible bird's nest Edible bird's nests are bird nests created by edible-nest swiftlets, Indian swiftlets, and other swiftlets using solidified saliva, which are harvested for human consumption. They are particularly prized in Chinese culture due to their rarity ...

s, and

pearl farming A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium car ...

. Seafood products like

dried fish Fresh fish rapidly deteriorates unless some way can be found to preserve it. Drying (food), Drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of microorganisms. Open air drying using sun ...

, dried prawn and ngapi (

shrimp paste Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. They are ei ...

) are other industries. Myeik is a gateway to the 800 offshore islands of the

Mergui Archipelago The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago or ''Myeik Kyunzu''; my, မြိတ်ကျွန်းစု) is located in far southern Myanmar (Burma) and is part of the Tanintharyi Region. It consists of more than 800 islands, varying in ...

, which are developing a tourist trade. Tourism in the area is currently restricted to cruises, as land based accommodations are currently non-existent on the islands.

Education

* No.1 Basic Education High School * Myeik University *

Technological University, Myeik Technological University (Myeik) ( my, နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ် (မြိတ်)) is situated on the side of the Yangon-Myeik road and is about 10 7.87 acres wide, at the village of Kabin, in the Myeik Township, townsh ...

Computer University, Myeik Computer University (Myeik) ( my, ကွန်ပျူတာတက္ကသိုလ် (မြိတ်)) is a university in Myeik, Taninthayi Region, Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IP ...

Health care

* Myeik Public Hospital (12.462990, 98.611030) * Datkhina Dipar Hospital (12.444978, 98.610848) * Myint Mo Hospital * Taw Win Hospital * Shwe Tara Phu Hospital

Security

* Myeik Police Station (12.437512, 98.598449)

Notable residents

Htay Myint ''Wunna Kyawhtin'' Htay Myint ( my, ဌေးမြင့်) is the chairman of the Yuzana Company, a major conglomerate in Myanmar (Burma) and served as Member of Parliament in the Pyithu Hluttaw for Myeik Township from 2011 to 2016. He also ...

Lwin Moe Lwin Moe ( my, လွင်မိုး, ; born 1970) is a three-time Myanmar Academy Award winning Burmese film actor. He was born on an island in the Mergui Archipelago at the southern end of Myanmar. Father of two girls, Lwin Moe was a UNIC ...

Ngwe Gaing Ngwe Gaing ( my, ငွေကိုင် ; 1901–1967) was a Burmese artist who worked in both oil and watercolor. After the death of his teacher Ba Nyan, he was recognized as the greatest living painter in Myanmar. He had great influence on t ...

References

Bibliography

* * * Pardieu, Vincent (December 2007
"South Sea Cultured Pearls From Mergui, Burma (Myanmar)"
https://mergui-entertainment.business.site

External links

Myeik Walking Tour - a free, bilingual guide to Myeik's architecture and history

Helfer in the Islands - the journal and routes of Dr. Johann W. Helfer, who explored the Mergui Archipelago in 1838-9
{{Most populous cities in Myanmar Populated places in Tanintharyi Region Township capitals of Myanmar Myeik Township