Mergui
| မြိတ်မြို့ Mergui |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 12 ° 26 ' N , 98 ° 36' E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Myanmar | ||
| Tanintharyi region | |||
| District | Myeik | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | MM-05 | ||
| Residents | 180,000 (2006) | ||
Mergui or Myeik ( Burmese မြိတ်မြို့ , BGN / PCGN : myeikmyo) is a city in the Tanintharyi region in the southernmost tip of Myanmar , which lies on the Mergui Archipelago (part of the Andaman Sea ). Intensive smuggling with Thailand is taking place in the hinterland of the port city .
population
Today (2006) about 180,000 people live in Myeik. The population consists mainly of Burmese, Chinese, Karen , Indians, Mon and Moken . Their language has a heavy Burmese accent .
economy
Myeik lives from fishing and the production of rubber, coconuts and fermented fish paste. There is also the production of pearls and the collecting of edible bird nests.
traffic
- Myeik Airport, (IATA: MGZ, ICAO: VYME)
education
- Technical University (Myeik)
- Myeik University
- Computer University of Myeik
climate
.png)
In Mergui there is a tropical - monsoonal climate, which is somewhat mitigated by the proximity to the sea.
history
Mergui has belonged to the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya since the 16th century, but has always remained in the sphere of influence of the Burmese, who finally incorporated it in the course of the conquest of Ayutthaya in 1767. Mergui was an important trading center for Ayutthaya with India and Persia in the west and China and Japan in the east. Numerous Europeans also settled here or took their goods overland via the Tenasserim peninsula to Ayutthaya.
Mergui was also the scene of the first European interference in Siamese affairs in the 17th century. King Songtham asked Holland to fortify Mergui, mainly to protect his interests against the overpowering Portuguese. Ayutthaya later gave two Englishmen, Richard Burnaby and Samuel White, a free hand to set up a pirate fleet that was directed against the interests of the English East India Company .
The Mergui massacre
In June 1687, during the final phase of the long reign of the Europeans well-disposed King Narai (r. 1656–1688), two English warships appeared in front of Mergui to emphasize threats of a blockade of the port by the company. White feared he would face an English court on charges of piracy. He tried to win over the English captains and therefore went several times on their ships. The local Siamese authorities, for their part, feared betrayal by the English and a takeover of Mergui for the company. Therefore, on July 14th, they opened fire on the warships and murdered every Englishman in town they could get hold of. The following month Narai declared war on the company and handed Mergui over to a French commander, Chevalier de Beauregard (approx. 1665-1692) and their division of French soldiers. After Narai's death and the Ayutthaya Revolution in 1688, the French were expelled from Mergui.
Mergui and Burma
During the conquest of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in the middle of the 18th century, Mergui finally fell to Burma and was not conquered by the British until 1826.
Individual evidence
- ↑ flightstats.com: Myeik Airport
- ↑ University website ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ David K. Wyatt : Thailand: a short history . Chiang Mai: Solkworm 2003. ISBN 974-9575-44-X , p. 96
