Amphoe
A amphoe (sometimes also amphur, ) is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as district, amphoe make up the provinces. Amphoe are further subdivided into tambon.Altogether Thailand has 796 districts and 80 minor districts (King Amphoe, กิ่งอำเภอ). The 50 districts of Bangkok are called khet (เขต), but even in official documents are sometimes misnamed as amphoe, the term used before the Bangkok administration reform in 1972. The number of amphoe in a province differs, from only 3 in the smallest provinces up to the 50 urban districts of Bangkok. Also the sizes and population of the amphoe differ, the lowest population being in King Amphoe Ko Kut (Trat Province) with just 2042 citizens, while Amphoe Mueang Samut Prakan (Samut Prakan Province) has 435,122 citizens. The khet of Bangkok have the smallest areas - Khet Samphanthawong is the smallest with only 1.4 km² - while the amphoe of the sparsely populated mountain regions are bigger than some provinces - Amphoe Umphang (Tak Province) with 4,325.4 km² is the largest and also has the lowest population density.
The names of the Amphoe are usually unique, but in a few cases different Thai names have the same form in English due to the flaws of the romanization system. The notable exception, however, is the name Amphoe Chaloem Phra Kiat, which was given to five districts created in 1996 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's ascension to the throne. Chaloem Phra Kiat (Thai: เฉลิมพระเกียรติ) is a honorific way of addressing a member of the royal family.
The districts are led by a District Chief Officer (Nai Amphoe, นายอำเภอ), who is appointed by the Ministry of the Interior. The officer is a subordinate of the provincial governor.
Amphoe Mueang
The district around the capital of the province is the Amphoe Mueang (town district), not to be confused with the capital town itself, which is a different administrative entity usually much smaller than the district. The notable exception to this rule is Ayutthaya, where the capital district is named Amphoe Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (instead of Amphoe Mueang Ayutthaya) - the same as the province, which is fully named Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.There are four districts in Thailand (Chan, Pan, Suang, Yang) which contain the term Mueang in their name as well, even though they are not capital districts.
King Amphoe
Minor districts are set up when the administration of areas remote to the district center gets too uncomfortable for the citizen. A minor district is led by a chief officer (Huana King Amphoe, หัวหน้ากิ่งอำเภอ). Most of the tasks of the Amphoe are transferred to the King Amphoe, but it is still partially a subordinate of the Amphoe it was created from. Once the King Amphoe meets the necessary qualifications to become an Amphoe, it is usually promoted. However, not every newly created Amphoe has to begin as a King Amphoe: if the qualifications are met directly, this phase is skipped.The qualification necessary is a population of at least 30,000 people and at least 5 tambon, or if the area is more than 25 km away from the district office a population of at least 15,000 and 4 tambon.
District Office
The administration of the district is housed in an office building called Thiwagan Amphoe (ทีว่าการอำเภอ), which also marks the center of each district. Distances on road signs are always calculated to this office building. The office is usually located in the largest settlement of the district, to make it easily reachable for the majority of the population - one of the tasks of the Amphoe is the civil registry, which makes the district the most important of the administrative levels for the general Thai people.
List of Amphoe
| Rank | Name | Population (Census 2000) | Name | Area (km²) | Name | Pop. Density Inh./km² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mueang Samut Prakan | 435,122 | Umphang | 4325.4 | Pom Prap Sattru Phai | 45,187.9 |
| 2. | Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima | 430,053 | Thong Pha Phum | 3655.2 | Samphanthawong | 30,182.1 |
| 3. | Mueang Udon Thani | 379,851 | Ban Rai | 3621.5 | Thon Buri | 24,494.5 |
| 4. | Mueang Khon Kaen | 359,065 | Mae Chaem | 3361.2 | Din Daeng | 22,180.8 |
| 5. | Mueang Nonthaburi | 332,388 | Sangkhla Buri | 3349.4 | Khlong San | 20,844.6 |
| ... | ||||||
| 922. | Chaloem Phra Kiat | 7,517 | Khlong San | 6.1 | Nong Ya Plong | 10.0 |
| 923. | Don Phut | 6,957 | Phra Nakhon | 5.5 | Kaeng Krachan | 9.8 |
| 924. | Ko Sichang | 4,417 | Bang Rak | 5.5 | Sangkhla Buri | 8.7 |
| 925. | Ko Chang | 4,399 | Pom Prap Sattru Phai | 1.9 | Si Sawat | 6.1 |
| 926. | Ko Kut | 2,042 | Samphanthawong | 1.4 | Umphang | 5.1 |
See also
- Subdivisions of Thailand