Padang Besa or Padang Besar () is a border town on the Malaysia-Thailand border in the Sadao District, Songkhla Province, Thailand. Since 2004 the municipality has had town status (''

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'' ...

'') and covers parts of the sub-district (''

tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) 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 ''khwaeng'' of Bangkok, whi ...

'') Padang Besa. In 2007 it had a population of 13,748. There is a road and rail border crossing into Malaysia in Padang Besar. The road checkpoint is about 1 km outside town on the road to Sadao. The town on the Malaysian side is also known as Padang Besar. All rail passenger formalities, including for exiting Thailand, are carried out in the Malaysian Padang Besar railway station where there is an integrated customs, immigration, and quarantine checkpoint for both countries. There is also a local Thai train station with the same name Padang Besar railway station and passengers need to be careful not to confuse between the two stations.

History

The municipality was created as a sanitary district (''

sukhaphiban Sukhaphiban (; translated as "sanitary district") were administrative divisions of Thailand. Sanitary districts were the first sub-autonomous entities established in Thailand. A first such district was created in Bangkok by a royal decree of King C ...

'') in 1967. Like all sanitary districts, it was upgraded to a 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 ...

'') in 1999. Effective 8 November 2004 it was upgraded to town status (''

'').

Gallery

File:Padangbesa, Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand - panoramio (1).jpg, Padang Besa File:Padangbesa, Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand - panoramio (6).jpg, Railway line in Padang Besa File:Padangbesa, Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand - panoramio.jpg, Padang Besa File:Padangbesa, Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand - panoramio (5).jpg, The Mayor Resort at Padang Besa File:Padangbesa, Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand - panoramio (3).jpg, Border with Malaysia at Padang Besa

References

External links

* * * Populated places in Songkhla province Malaysia–Thailand border crossings {{Borders of Thailand