Betong (, ; ( Jawi: بيتوڠ ) ; ) is a town (''

thesaban mueang Thesaban (, , , Pali: desapāla (protector of region) 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'' ...

'') in southern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, near the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

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 is popular with Malaysian tourists, due to its location at the border with the Malaysian state of

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

Etymology

The name ''Betong'' is actually the Thai

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

of ''Betung''. Its original Malay name means 'bamboo', more specifically ''

dendrocalamus asper ''Dendrocalamus asper'', also known as giant bamboo or dragon bamboo (in China), is a giant, tropical, clumping species of bamboo native to Southeast Asia. In addition to its prolific nature across Asia, the plant's overall attractive appearance ...

''.

History

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

thesaban tambon Thesaban (, , , Pali, Pali: desapāla (protector of region) 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 ''thesa ...

'') 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 Sex tourism is the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships, in exchange providing money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...

. Mass tourism was not common to Betong until it was launched as one of Thailand's pilot targets for western tourists with the opening of its airport for commercial flights in March 2022. 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 77 from

Pengkalan Hulu Pengkalan Hulu, formerly known as Kroh or Keroh, is a town and a mukim in Hulu Perak District, Perak, Malaysia, bordering Thailand and Kedah. The nearest town on the Thailand side is Betong, Thailand, Betong in Yala province. Although descr ...

. In January 2022, the Department of Airports opened the

Betong Airport Betong International Airport is in Yarom subdistrict, Betong district, Yala province in southern Thailand. The airport is east of Betong, southeast from Yala city and via the Malaysian border. The airport covers an area of 1.47 million ...

on a 920-

rai (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

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

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

. 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 Airlines plc, trading as Nok Air (; , from [] meaning 'bird') is a low-cost airline in Thailand operating mostly domestic services from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport. History Nok Air was established in February 2004 as Sky A ...

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 — known as Bangkok International Airport before 2006 — is one of two international airports serving Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the other being Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). The airport is considered ...

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