Songkhla (, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (

Pattani Malay Pattani (or Patani in Malay spelling) may refer to: Places Continental Asia * Patani (historical region) Patani Darussalam (Malay language, Malay: ''Kesultanan Patani Darussalam'', Jawi script, Jawi: كسلطانن ڤطاني دارالسل� ...

: ซิงกอรอ, Singoro), is a city (''

thesaban nakhon Thesaban (, , , 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 ''thesaban'' ...

'') in Songkhla Province of southern

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 ...

, near the border with

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Songkhla lies south of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and as of 2020 had a population of 61,758. Despite being smaller than the neighboring city

Hat Yai Hat Yai (, , also Haad Yai or Had Yai) is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, fifth-largest city in Thailand with a population of 191,696 (2024) in ...

, Songkhla is the capital of Songkhla Province as well as the Mueang Songkhla District (Songkhla town district). Together with Hat Yai, Songkhla is part of the Greater Hat Yai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area (a

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

with a population of around 800,000), the third largest metropolitan area in Thailand. At the opening of

Songkhla Lake Songkhla Lake (, , ) is the largest natural lake in Thailand. It is on the Malay Peninsula in the southern part of the country. Covering an area of 1,040 km2 it borders the provinces of Songkhla and Phatthalung. Despite being called a lake, ...

to the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

, Songkhla is a fishing town and also an important

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

. It is the major seaport on the east side of the

Isthmus of Kra The Kra Isthmus (, ; ), also called the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailan ...

History

The name ''Songkhla'' means 'the city of lions' (not to be confused with

Singapura Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree o ...

) and is the Thai variant of "Singgora" ( Malay and Jawi: سيڠڬورا). This refers to a lion-shaped mountain near the city of Songkhla. Archaeological excavations on the isthmus between Lake Songkhla and the sea reveal that in the 10th through the 14th century, this was a major urbanized area, and a center of international maritime trade, in particular with

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

in China. The long Sanskrit name of the state that existed there has been lost; its short Sanskrit name was ''Singhapura'' ('Lion City') (not to be confused with

), a city state. The short vernacular name was ''Satingpra'', coming from the

Mon-Khmer The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority popu ...

''sting''/''steng''/''stang'' (meaning 'river') and the Sanskrit ''pura'' ('city'). The ruins of the ancient

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

of Satingpra are just few kilometers north of Songkhla. It was one of the most important trading centers of the

Tambralinga Tambralinga or Ho-ling was an Indianised Malay kingdom located on the Malay Peninsula (in modern-day Southern Thailand), existing at least from the 2nd to 13th centuries CE. It possibly was under the influence of Srivijaya for some time, but l ...

Kingdom. Archaeological digs and investigations conducted toward the end of the 20th century testify the existence of a fortified

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

protected by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

and a quadrangular surrounding wall made of brick. A sophisticated system of canals connected the sea to the Songkhla Lake permitting the circulations of ships. The excavations brought to light artifacts of great historical and artistic value. The precursor of the present-day town of Songkhla was The

Sultanate of Singora The Sultanate of Singora was a heavily fortified port city in southern Thailand and the precursor of the present-day town of Songkhla. It was founded in the early 17th century by a Persian, Dato Mogol, and flourished during the reign of his son ...

, a heavily fortified port city. It was founded in the early 17th century by a Persian, Dato Mogol, and flourished during the reign of his son, Sultan Sulaiman Shah. In 1680, after decades of conflict, the city was destroyed and abandoned; remains include forts, city walls, a Dutch cemetery and the tomb of Sultan Sulaiman Shah. On 8 December 1941 local time, the

Imperial Japanese army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

landed in Songkhla, invading Thailand. Because of the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is the line extending between the South and North Poles that is the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and de ...

, this actually occurred hours before the 7 December (Hawaii time)

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, making it the first major action of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

. The Japanese forces then moved south towards

Perlis Perlis (Kedah Malay language, Kedah Malay (Perlis dialect): ''Peghelih'') is a Negeri, state of Malaysia in the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. The state borders the Thai ...

and

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

as part of the

Malayan campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allies of World War II, Allied and Axis powers, Axis forces in British Malaya, Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the World War ...

which culminated in the capture of Singapore. Since 2003, Songhkla has been affected by separatist insurgencies in neighboring

Narathiwat Narathiwat (, ) is a town ( thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand and capital of Narathiwat Province. The town is in the Mueang Narathiwat District and was established in 1936. As of 2008, the population was 40,521. It lies 1,141 km south ...

Pattani Pattani (or Patani in Malay spelling) may refer to: Places Continental Asia * Patani (historical region), a historical region in the Malay peninsula, in Thailand and Malaysia. * Pattani Province, modern province in southern Thailand ** Pattani, ...

, and Yala. The municipality's mayor, Peera Tantiserane, was murdered in Songkhla in 2014.

Climate

Songkhla has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Am''). Temperatures are very warm to hot throughout the year with only minor variation. There is a short dry season in February and March; the rest of the year is wet, with especially heavy rainfall from October to December.

Population

The majority of the population is

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

with a large proportion of Muslims, especially in the rural areas near the

n border. These Muslims speak the

Yawi language Yawi may mean: * Yawi language, a Malayan language of Southern Thailand * Jawi script, an Arabic alphabet used for several languages of Southeast Asia See also * Yaoi , also known by its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media ori ...

, a language closely related to Malay, which has some Thai influence, especially in

loan word A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing (linguistics), borrowing. Borrowing ...

s borrowed from the

Thai language Thai,In or Central Thai (historically Siamese;Although "Thai" and "Central Thai" have become more common, the older term, "Siamese", is still used by linguists, especially when it is being distinguished from other Tai languages (Diller 2008:6 ...

. Songkhla city takes up the entire Bo Yang sub-district. As of 2020 Songkhla city had a population of 61,758.

Gallery

File:Songkhla mermaid.jpg, Songkhla mermaid File:Tinsulanonda Bridge 1.jpg, Tinsulanonda Bridge File:Songkhla Sea Port.jpg, Songkhla seaport File:Songkhla Lak Mueang.jpg, Songkhla Lak Mueang

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Populated places in Songkhla province Cities and towns in Thailand