Betong ( th, เบตง, ; ms, Betung ( Jawi: بيتوڠ ) ; ) 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 ...

'') in southern

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 ...

, near the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n border. It is the capital of Betong District, the southernmost district of Yala Province. As of 2005, the town has a population of 24,688. Betong is the southernmost town of Thailand and its location on the border with the Malaysian state of Perak makes it popular with tourists.

Etymology

The name ''Betong'' is actually the Thai corruption of ''Betung''. Its original Malay name means 'bamboo'.

History

The town was created as a local administration unit on 30 September 1939, when the sub-district municipality (''

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 ...

'') was set up. The town was upgraded to ''thesaban mueang'' status on 20 February 2004.

Economy

Tourism is the main driver of the economy of Betong, especially sex tourism. Academic Surang Artnarong has estimated that the town is home to 3,000 to 5,000 sex workers, who primarily service Malaysian tourists. In 2014, 466,913 foreigners visited Betong, generating 2,130 million baht in revenue. The number of tourist arrivals rose to 700,000 in 2016.

Transportation

Betong is accessible only through roads, via the 410 highway that originates from Yala, and Highway 76 from Perak. In January 2022, the Department of Airports opened the

Betong Airport Betong International Airport ( Thai: ท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติเบตง) ( IATA: BTZ, ICAO: VTSY) is a domestic airport serving the town of Betong and Yala province in Thailand. The airport is east of Beton ...

on a 920-

rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

site, which is 13 km east of the town. It is built at a cost of 1.9 billion

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...

. Designed to handle 300 arrivals per hour, it is projected to serve one million passengers per year, generating three billion baht for the district.

Nok Air Nok Air (, th, นกแอร์, derived from ''nok'' (นก), the Thai word for ''bird'') is a low-cost airline in Thailand operating mostly domestic services out of Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport. Thai Airways International o ...

was selected to be the airline to serve the airport. The airline operated three return flights per-week from Bangkok's

Don Mueang Airport Don Mueang International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานดอนเมือง, , , or colloquially as , ) is one of two international airports serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the other one being Suvarnabhumi Airpo ...

from April to October 2022.

Gallery

File:Betong Bell Tower.jpg, Betong Bell Tower File:Wat Phutthathiwat.jpg, Wat Phutthathiwat

References

External links

* * Populated places in Yala province Malaysia–Thailand border crossings {{Yala-geo-stub