Songkhla is a city (
thesaban nakhon) in the
Songkhla ProvinceSongkhla is the one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia....
of southern
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, near the border with
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
. As of 2006 it had a population of 75,048. The city is a part of
Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan AreaThe Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area is an urban corridor in Southern Thailand's Songkhla Province between two cities--Hat Yai, the commercial center of the province and the region, and Songkhla, the provincial capital. Located 30 km apart, the twin cities are complementary to each other....
.
Despite being smaller than the neighboring city
Hat YaiHat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the boundary to Malaysia. Geographical location . With a population of 157,359 in the core city and about 800,000 in the Greater Hat Yai...
, Songkhla is the capital of Songkhla Province as well as the
Mueang Songkhla districtMueang Songkhla is the capital district of Songkhla Province, southern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring districts are Chana, Na Mom, Hat Yai and Singhanakhon of Songkhla Province...
(Songkhla Town district).
Due to its location at the opening of the big
Songkhla lakeThe Songkhla lake is the largest natural lake of Thailand, located on the Malay peninsula in the southern part of the country. Covering an area of 1,040 km² it borders the provinces of Songkhla and Phattalung....
to the
Gulf of ThailandThe Gulf of Thailand or Gulf of Siam is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:The Gulf of Siam is bordered by Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. The gulf covers roughly 320,000 km²...
, Songkhla is a fishing town and also an important harbour.
Songkhla is a city (
thesaban nakhon) in the
Songkhla ProvinceSongkhla is the one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia....
of southern
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, near the border with
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
. As of 2006 it had a population of 75,048. The city is a part of
Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan AreaThe Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area is an urban corridor in Southern Thailand's Songkhla Province between two cities--Hat Yai, the commercial center of the province and the region, and Songkhla, the provincial capital. Located 30 km apart, the twin cities are complementary to each other....
.
Despite being smaller than the neighboring city
Hat YaiHat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the boundary to Malaysia. Geographical location . With a population of 157,359 in the core city and about 800,000 in the Greater Hat Yai...
, Songkhla is the capital of Songkhla Province as well as the
Mueang Songkhla districtMueang Songkhla is the capital district of Songkhla Province, southern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring districts are Chana, Na Mom, Hat Yai and Singhanakhon of Songkhla Province...
(Songkhla Town district).
Due to its location at the opening of the big
Songkhla lakeThe Songkhla lake is the largest natural lake of Thailand, located on the Malay peninsula in the southern part of the country. Covering an area of 1,040 km² it borders the provinces of Songkhla and Phattalung....
to the
Gulf of ThailandThe Gulf of Thailand or Gulf of Siam is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:The Gulf of Siam is bordered by Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. The gulf covers roughly 320,000 km²...
, Songkhla is a fishing town and also an important harbour. It is the major seaport on the east side of the Isthmus of Kra.
Songkhla was sometimes known as
Singgora or
Singora (City of
LionThe Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s).
History
On December 8, 1941, hours before the bombing of
Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 , later resulting in the United...
, the
Imperial Japanese armyThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
landed hereThe Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on December 8, 1941.To invade Malaya and Burma the Japanese needed to make use of Thai ports, railways, and airfields. The Thai people, however, were fiercely proud of never having been colonised and were determined to maintain their independence, having...
and proceeded south towards
PerlisPerlis , is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. Perlis was called Palit by the Siamese when it was under their influence.Perlis Indera Kayangan has a...
and
PenangPenang is a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis, and the eighth most populous...
as part of the
Malayan campaignThe Battle of Malaya was a campaign fought by Allied and Japanese forces in Malaya, from December 8 1941 to January 31 1942 during the Second World War. The campaign was dominated by land battles between British Commonwealth army units, and the Imperial Japanese Army...
which culminated in the
capture of SingaporeThe Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in South East Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...
.
Since 2003 Songhkla has been affected by the Muslim hard-line militant insurgency in neighboring
NarathiwatNarathiwat is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Narathiwat Province....
,
PattaniPattani may refer to* Pattani Province, in southern Thailand* Pattani , in southern Thailand* Pattani , which includes the above province** Pattani Kingdom, a former semi-independent kingdom...
, and
Yala-Asia:* Yala National Park, Sri Lanka* Yala is the dry season in Sri Lanka. Its counterpart is Maha, the wet season.* Yala Province, Thailand*Yala, Thailand, its administrative capital...
.
Population
Although the majority is Buddhist, there is a large proportion of Muslims in Songkhla, especially in the rural areas fringing the Malaysian border. These Muslims speak a Malay-based language which has some Thai influence in the form of words borrowed from the
Thai languageThai is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Kradai language family. The Kradai languages are thought to have originated in what is now southern China, and are linked to...
.
Songkhla's district (Amphoe) has five
Tambon Administrative Organizations (องค์การบริหารส่วนตำบล). Songkhla town takes up the whole of Bo Yang division.
| No. |
Name |
Thai |
Villages |
Inhab. |
| 1. |
Bo Yang |
|
| 74,875 |
|
| 2. |
Khao Rup Chang |
| 10 |
38,662 |
|
| 3. |
Ko Taeo |
| 9 |
10,608 |
|
| 4. |
Phawong |
| 8 |
24,130 |
|
| 5. |
Thung Wang |
| 10 |
10,343 |
|
| 6. |
Ko Yo |
| 9 |
4,454 |
|