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 coun ...

'') 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 b ...

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 fro ...

coast. To the north of the district is Si Phang Nga National Park. The southern part of the district contains

Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park Khao may refer to: * Khao, Iran ( fa, خاو), a village in Kurdistan Province, Iran * Khao ( th, เขา, pronounced ), the term for 'mountain' in Central and Southern Thailand; see List of mountains in Thailand * Khao ( th, ข้าว, pronoun ...

, 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 exp ...

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 Su ...

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

'') 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 ...

times in the 13th century. It was also known as ''Takkolam'' () which is the Tamil word for "piper cubeba" and "calyptranthes jambalana". There is also a place in the

Tamil country Tamiḻakam (Tamil: தமிழகம்; Malayalam: തമിഴകം), refers to the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nad ...

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

, 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 States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

n Tamil 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 B ...

and

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

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 (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

, even though tin was the most important ore found there. Laem Pho Beach in the Chaiya district 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 isthm ...

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 imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

(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 Turkme ...

. 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, conn ...

. 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. 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''. 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 '' khwaen ...

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 m ...

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 '' khwaen ...

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