Sukhaphiban (; translated as "sanitary district") were administrative divisions of
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
.
Sanitary districts were the first sub-autonomous entities established in Thailand. A first such district was created in Bangkok by a royal decree of King
Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...
in 1897. The king had learned about the
sanitary districts in England during his European trip earlier that year, and he wanted to try this local administration in his country as well.
Tha Chalom District became the second such district, created in 1906 and responsible for parts of
Mueang Samut Sakhon District,
Samut Sakhon Province. In 1907 the act on operations of sanitary districts codified the regulations, and with the ''Local Administration Act'' of 1914 two levels of sukhaphiban were introduced, the ''sukhaphiban mueang'' for towns and ''sukhaphiban tambon'' for rural areas.
The number of sanitary districts grew to 35 in 1935, when these however were converted into municipalities (''
thesaban''). New sanitary district were again established starting in 1952 by prime minister
Phibun Songkhram. With the ''Act to Upgrade Sanitary Districts to Thesaban'' of May 1999 they were again abolished, and all became ''
thesaban tambon
Thesaban (, , , Pali, Pali: desapāla (protector of region) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesa ...
''.
As the name suggests, the main task of the sanitary districts are sanitation projects. The districts were administered by a sanitation committee, which consisted of ''
kamnan'' (''tambon'' headmen), village headmen, and also local merchants. It was financed by a housing tax on local residents.
See also
*
Mueang
Mueang ( Ahom: 𑜉𑜢𑜤𑜂𑜫; ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( ''mɯ́ang'', ), Möng ( Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''möeng''; ''móeng'', ), Meng ( zh, c=猛 or 勐) or Mường (Vietnamese) were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or princip ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Local Government in Asiaby UNESCAP
Government Decentralization Reforms in Developing Countries
Subdivisions of Thailand