Changwat
Changwat ( Thai : จังหวัด , pronunciation: [ ʨaŋwàt ]) is the Thai name for province , it is the highest administrative unit under the central government in Thailand .
structure
Thailand is divided into 76 Changwat (provinces) and Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (the metropolis of Bangkok), each of which is headed by a governor . The governor of a province is an official appointed by the interior minister . Since Thailand is a unitary state , the provinces have no federal state and no democratically elected organs, but serve exclusively to implement the requirements of the central government. The governor coordinates the activities of the authorities and officials of various ministries of the central government in the territory of his province. It also oversees the subordinate administrative units. The seat of the provincial administration is the Salaklang Changwat ("Provincial Hall").
The Changwat are named after the provincial capital, which is usually the largest city in the province (a notable exception is Songkhla Province , the largest city of which is Hat Yai ). The Changwat are further subdivided into Amphoe (counties), these in turn into Tambon (municipalities) and finally Muban (villages).
Thailand's capital Bangkok , on the other hand, is not a province, but a metropolis . There is an elected governor and council that can decide on certain local matters independently. However, the metropolis of Bangkok is sometimes listed as the 77th province, as it has the same status as a province.
The size of the Changwat varies between 417 km² ( Samut Songkhram , roughly the size of Vienna or the state of Bremen ) and 20,494 km² ( Nakhon Ratchasima , roughly like Saxony-Anhalt ). The population ranges between 180,000 ( Ranong , roughly as many as the Canton of Neuchâtel ) and 2.6 million (Nakhon Ratchasima, roughly like Brandenburg ). The capital Bangkok has 5.7 million inhabitants (about as many as Hesse ).
The provinces are combined into larger regions ( Thai ภาค , RTGS Phak ) or groups ( Thai กลุ่ม , RTGS Klum ) for various administrative, statistical and geographical purposes . Here, however, no uniform assignment has become established, so that these larger units do not develop any meaning beyond the respective area of use.
history
Most provinces go back to local, tributary principalities or city states ( Müang ) from the time before the 18th century . Under the first Minister of the Interior of Thailand, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab , the administrative structure was modernized and standardized between 1892 and 1915. The title of provincial governor, which had often been inherited until then, became a position appointed and paid for by the central government. Neighboring provinces were added to several small provinces, and the Monthon was introduced as a further administrative unit , which encompassed several provinces. The latter were abolished after Thailand's transition to a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
The newest province is Bueng Kan . It was spun off from Nong Khai Province in 2011 .
Provincial Administrative Organizations
The provincial administrative organizations ( Thai องค์การ บริหาร ส่วน จังหวัด , short อบ จ. , Ongkan Borihan suan Changwat ; English Provincial Administrative Organization , PAO) are to be distinguished from the provinces as units of the provincial administration geared towards the central government . Although their area of responsibility is congruent with a province, they are organizationally not part of the Changwat administrative unit and their areas of responsibility hardly overlap with it. As units of the local administration, they have democratically elected organs: a council with - depending on the number of inhabitants - 24, 36, 42 or 48 members and an executive committee, the chairman of which is directly elected by the people and which appoints two to four additional members (deputies). The PAO can regulate certain local issues (especially construction work) on their own responsibility.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b DOPA statistics (as of 2011)
- ↑ Michael H. Nelson : Local Government Reform in Thailand. With some comparative perspectives. 1999/2000, pp. Xiv-xv.