Phang Nga and Khaolak travel information and local guide

Phang-Nga is a primarily agricultural province in the south of Thailand. The chief cash crop is rubber, and rubber plantations cover a considerable area, especially noticeable along the roads. Aside from that,however, large areas are also given to food crops. Considerable amounts of rice, vegetables and fruits are produced in Phang-Nga. Phang-Nga province has an area of 4,170 sq. kms., a large part of which is forest.

General Overview

Phang-nga is a primarily agricultural province in the south of Thailand. The chief cashcrop is rubber and rubber plantations cover a considerable area, especially noticeable along the roads. Aside from that, however, large areas are also given to food crops ; considerable amounts of rice, vegetables and fruits are produced in Phang-nga.

Pupulation was 231,649 as of December 31, 1998

History

Ancient recoreds reveal that before establishment of the current dynasty in the late 18th century, the area called Phang-nga was a district attached to Takuapa, the leading town thereabouts. Then with the beginning of theRattanakosin

Dynasty, during the reign of Rama I, Phang-nga was given equal status with Takuapa and another nearby town, Takuatung, and all three were removed from the government’s Harbour department and put under the Ministry of defence.

The best evedence indicates that Phang Nga was officially established in 1809 during the reign of Rama II, when one of the periods wars with Burma was raging.The King there, Padung Kasatri appointed Ah Terng Woon to lead an invasion force the attck on Thailand’s southern towns.

The ship-borne army carried off the populations of Takuatung and Thalang (in Phuket). Thalang was razed to the ground. An army under the direction of a royal prince was therefore sent from Bangkok to drive off the attackers. While the war was raging some of the local people took refuge at a place then called Kra Punga * (Malay for river mouth of Pu-nga) protected on all sides by mountains.

After the razing of Thalang, it was the government’s view that Thailand’s hold on the area had weakened and that a new town should be established in its stead. Thus the citizenry left in the Thalang area was instructed to move to Kra Pu-nga and register themselves as being resident there. There is still a village in what is today Takuatung District called Thalang founded by those immigrants from Phuket. The new city was put under the administration of the government in Nakorn Sri Thammarat.

During the reign of Rama III, the central government thought to strengthen the southwest coastal town that were prey to successive Burmese attacks by appointing a governor fo rthe province who reported directly to Bangkok. Praya Borirak Puton (Sang Na Nakorn) thereby becme first governor of Phang-nga in 1840. In the same year, Takuatung was reduced in status and became merely a district of Phang-nga.

All during this period tin mining was booming, and as one of the most tin-rich of Thailand’s tin bearing locales, Phang-nga attracted increasing attention from the central government because of its importance as a foreign exchange earner. When the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s struck.

Thailand, Phang-nga’s status was further enhanced by incorporation of Takuapa as a district (1931).

One of Phang-nga town’s most beautiful old buildings is the Provincial Hall. The first such structure was built in Ban Chai Kai; a larger one was constructed in 1930 at Ban Tai Chang. The present structure near Poong Chang Cave was built in 1972.