Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora ( Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''

thesaban nakhon 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 Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of Bangkok and as of 2020 had a population of 61,758. Despite being smaller than the neighboring city

Hat Yai Hat Yai ( th, หาดใหญ่, , also Haad Yai or Had Yai) is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. It is south of Bangkok, and has a population of 156,802 (2019) in the city itself and an urban population of about 400,00 ...

, Songkhla is the capital of Songkhla Province as well as the Mueang Songkhla District (Songkhla town district). Together with Hat Yai, Songkhla is part of the Greater Hat Yai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area (a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

with a population of around 800,000), the third largest metropolitan area in Thailand. At the opening of Songkhla Lake to 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 ...

, Songkhla is a fishing town and also an important

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

. It is the major seaport on the east side of the Isthmus of Kra.

History

The name ''Songkhla'' is the

Thai 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 block ...

variant Variant may refer to: In arts and entertainment * ''Variant'' (magazine), a former British cultural magazine * Variant cover, an issue of comic books with varying cover art * ''Variant'' (novel), a novel by Robison Wells * " The Variant", 2021 e ...

of "Singgora" ( Jawi: سيڠڬورا); its original name means 'the city of lions' in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

(not to be confused with

Singapura Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

). This refers to a lion-shaped mountain near the city of Songkhla. Archaeological excavations on the isthmus between Lake Songkhla and the sea reveal that in the 10th through the 14th century, this was a major urbanized area, and a center of international maritime trade, in particular with

Quanzhou Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...

in China. The long Sanskrit name of the state that existed there has been lost; its short Sanskrit name was ''Singhapura'' ('Lion City') (not to be confused with

), a city state. The short vernacular name was ''Satingpra'', coming from the Mon-Khmer ''sting''/''steng''/''stang'' (meaning 'river') and the Sanskrit ''pura'' ('city'). The ruins of the ancient port city of

Satingpra Sathing Phra ( th, สทิงพระ, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the northern part of Songkhla province, southern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Singhanakhon of Songkhla Province; Pak Phayun ...

are just few kilometers north of Songkhla. It was one of the most important trading centers of the Tambralinga Kingdom. Archaeological digs and investigations conducted toward the end of the 20th century testify the existence of a fortified citadel protected by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and a quadrangular surrounding wall made of brick. A sophisticated system of canals connected the sea to the Songkhla Lake permitting the circulations of ships. The excavations brought to light artifacts of great historical and artistic value. On 8 December 1941 local time, the Imperial Japanese army landed in Songkhla, invading Thailand. Because of the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific O ...

, this actually occurred hours before the 7 December (Hawaii time) attack on Pearl Harbor, making it the first major action of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. The Japanese forces then moved south towards Perlis and

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

as part of the

Malayan campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

which culminated in the capture of Singapore. Since 2003, Songhkla has been affected by separatist insurgencies in neighboring Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala. The municipality's mayor, Peera Tantiserane, was murdered in Songkhla in 2012.

Climate

Songkhla has a tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Am''). Temperatures are very warm to hot throughout the year with only minor variation. There is a short dry season in February and March; the rest of the year is wet, with especially heavy rainfall from October to December.

Population

The majority of the population is Buddhist with a large proportion of Muslims, especially in the rural areas near the Malaysian border. These Muslims speak the Yawi language, a language closely related to

, which has some Thai influence, especially in loan words borrowed from the Thai language. Songkhla's district has five administrative organizations (องค์การบริหารส่วนตำบล). Songkhla takes up the entire Bo Yang district.

Gallery

File:Songkhla mermaid.jpg, Songkhla mermaid File:Tinsulanonda Bridge 1.jpg, Tinsulanonda Bridge File:Songkhla Sea Port.jpg, Songkhla seaport File:Songkhla Lak Mueang.jpg, Songkhla Lak Mueang

References

External links