Trat ( th, ตราด, ), also spelt Trad, is a town in Thailand, capital of Trat province and the Mueang Trat district. The town is in the east of Thailand, at the mouth of the Trat River, near the border with Cambodia.

Etymology

''Trat'' is believed to derive from ''Krat'' (), the Thai name for the tree '' Dipterocarpus intricatus,'' common to the region and used to make brooms. It is also spelt ''Trad''.

History

Thai Traditional House On Stilts Trat Thailand

Trat was already an important seaport in the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. Under King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

(Rama V), Trat and Chanthaburi province were briefly occupied by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. In a complicated exchange of territory, Trat (and Chanthaburi) was returned on March 23, 1906, but Thailand relinquished the area around Siem Reap and Sisophon in present-day Cambodia. When the Vietnamese pushed 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. ...

out of Cambodia in 1985,

Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist a ...

fled to Thailand and made his headquarters in a plantation villa near Trat. It was built for him by the Thai Army and nicknamed "Office 87".

Geography

Trat Province is located in the eastern part of the central region of Thailand, in the extreme southeast of Thailand near the border with Cambodia. It is just over 300 km from the capital Bangkok.

Economy

Trat, favored by its proximity to the Cambodian border, is of some importance as a trading city. The area around Trat is rich in gemstone mines, whose yield (rubies and sapphires) is processed right in the town. Fruit growing is also important:

durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the onl ...

, rambutan and mangosteen are the main products. For tourists, Trat is more interesting as a starting point to the large islands of Ko Chang and

Ko Mak Ko Mak ( th, เกาะหมาก, ) is a small island of Trat province, Thailand. It is a subdistrict (''tambon'') of Ko Kut district. The island is named after the areca nut (หมาก), also known as the "betel nut". History The f ...

. The city of Trat had 10,207 inhabitants .

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Trat province