Satun Province

[Braveheart]

Satun (Thai สตูล) is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. To the south it borders Perlis of Malaysia. The name Satun is a Thai corruption of the Malay Setul, meaning mangosteen tree.

 

The province is located on the Malay Peninsula, on the shore of the Andaman Sea. It is separated from Songkhla Province by the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range, and from Malaysia by the Sankalakhiri mountains.

 

The Ko Tarutao (Malay Pulau Tertua) and Ko Phetra (Pulau Petra) marine national parks are part of the province. Close to the border with Malaysia is the Thale Ban National Park, a big freshwater swamp area.

 

 

Until 1813 Satun was a district of the Malay state of Kedah, then known as Mukim Setul in Malay. After that it was administrated by a governor sent from Nakhon Si Thammarat. In 1897, Satun became part of the Monthon Triburi (Kedah), which in 1909 was split between British Empire and Siam as part of Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. While most of Kedah became part of the British Empire, Satun was given to the Siamese due to the fact that there was a large Siamese population there. It was then included into the Monthon Phuket. In 1933 the monthon were dissolved and the province became a first-level subdivision of Thailand.

 

Satun is one of the four provinces of Thailand which have a Muslim majority: 67.8% are Muslim, only 31.9% are Buddhists. Most of the Muslims have some ethnic-Malay ancestry (although 9.9% of the population claims to be ethnically Malay).

 

Because region of Satun belonged to Kedah Sultanate which had a strong relationship with Ayutthaya as well as with Siam of the Chakri dynasty traditionally, its population of Malay Muslims commonly marries with Thai Buddhists without serious religious hesitation. This custom created an ethnic group known as Samsam, meaning mixed person.

 

Malay Muslims in Satun are substantially assimilated and rarely claim separatism from Thailand compared to the Malay Muslims in Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala.

 

The provincial seal shows Pra Samut Thewaa sitting on a stone in the sea, with the sunset behind. Pra Samut Thewaa is the god who guards the sea, the stone his divine vehicle. The sunset symbolizes the Andaman Sea, which lies to the west of the province.

 

The provincial tree is the Thai Rosewood or Pha-yungklaep (Dalbergia bariensis), and the provincial flower is the Snowy Orchid Tree (Bauhinia acuminata). The provincial slogan is Peaceful, Clean and Pure Nature.

 

Satun is subdivided into 6 districts (Amphoe) and one minor district (King Amphoe). These are further subdivided into 36 communes (tambon) and 277 villages (muban). Satun itself is the only town (thesaban mueang), there are further 5 townships (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal area is administrated by 35 tambon administrative organizations (TAO). For the national elections, the province is divided into two electoral districts - district 1 covers Mueang Satun, Khuan Don and tambon Thung Nui of Khuan Kalong, district 2 the remaining northern parts of the province.

 

Originally, the province was subdivided into 2 districts - Mambang and Thung Wa - and the minor district La-ngu. Due to the decline of pepper production in Thung Wa district, in 1930 the government made Thung Wa a minor district and instead declared La-ngu a district. In 1939 Mambang was renamed to Mueang Satun. Khuan Kalong was split off from Mueang district in 1969, from which in turn Tha Pae was split in 1976 and Manang in 1996. In 1973 Thung Wa regained district status. Khuan Don was established in 1975 by splitting it from Mueang district.

 

Extracted from Wikipedia: Satun Province