''Tambon'' (, ) is a local governmental unit in

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 ...

. Below

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

(''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the Provinces of Thailand, provinces, and are analogous to count ...

'') and

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''

khwaeng A ''khwaeng'' (, ) is an administrative subdivision used in the fifty districts of Bangkok and a few other city municipalities in Thailand. Currently, there are 180 ''khwaeng'' in Bangkok. A ''khwaeng'' is roughly equivalent to a ''tambon'' in ot ...

'' 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 ...

, which are set at the same administrative level, thus every

contains eight to ten tambon. ''Tambon'' is usually translated as "

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

" or "subdistrict" in English the latter is the recommended translation, though also often used for '' king amphoe'', the designation for a subdistrict acting as a branch (Thai: ''king'') of the parent district. Tambon are further subdivided into 74,944 villages (''

muban Muban (; , ) is the lowest Administrative divisions of Thailand, administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet (place), hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74 ...

'') as of 2008. ''Tambon'' within cities or towns are not subdivided into villages, but may have less formal communities called ''chumchon'' ( ชุมชน) that may be formed into community associations. The average area of a subdistrict in Thailand is about , while its average population of a subdistrict in Thailand is about 9,637 people.

History

The ''tambon'' as a subdivision has a long history. It was the second-level subdivision of the area administered by a provincial town in the 19th century. The governor of the province was supposed to appoint a communal elder, '' kamnan'' or ''phan''. In the administrative reforms started in 1892 under Prince

Damrong Rajanubhab Prince Tisavarakumara, the Prince Damrong Rajanubhab (; Full transcription is "Somdet Phrachao Borommawongthoe Phra-ongchao Ditsawarakuman Kromphraya Damrongrachanuphap" (สมเด็จพระเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธอ พ� ...

, the first Thai Minister of the Interior, the three levels of subdivision of provinces were continued, i.e., starting from

to ''tambon'' to the lowest level called ''muban''.

Muban

The subdistricts are subdivided into administrative villages (muban, ) as the lowest administrative subdivision. Usually these are referred to much more often by the village number than the actual name, especially as an administrative village may contain more than one settlement, or a large settlement may be split into more than one administrative village. One of the elected village headmen is elected as the subdistrict headman ( Kamnan).

Subdistrict (Tambon) administrative organization (SAO/TAO)

With the ''Tambon Council and Tambon Administrative Authority Act BE 2537'' (1994) and later by the constitution of 1997, ''tambon'' were decentralized into local government units with an elected tambon council. Depending on its size and tax income a ''tambon'' may either be administered by a ''Subdistrict (Tambon) Administrative Organization'' (SAO or TAO, ) or a ''Tambon Council'' (TC, ). However, since 2001 all of the Tambon Councils have been upgraded to Tambon Administrative Organizations. The TAO council consist of two representatives from each administrative village in the subdistrict, and one directly elected president. The subdistrict area which belongs to a municipality ('' thesaban'') is administered by the municipal council. In the event only part of the subdistrict is within a municipality, the remaining part is administered by a TAO. Adjoining subdistricts of a single district can also have a joint TAO.

One Tambon One Product

In 2001, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra started a project in which every ''tambon'' would select a typical, distinctive local product. The project then aids in promoting the product, as well as assisting in modernizing production. Shops selling OTOP products are located in each provincial capital.

References

External links