Tha Ton, also spelled Thaton ( th, ท่าตอน), is a sub-district (''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district ('' amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 '' khwaen ...

'') of Mae Ai District in the far north of

Chiang Mai Province Chiang Mai ( th, เชียงใหม่, ; nod, , ) is the largest Province ('' changwat'') of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It is bordered by Chiang Rai province, Chiang R ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. In 2014 it had a population of 19,902. The sub-district is on the

Kok River The Kok River ( th, น้ำแม่กก, , ) is a tributary river of the Mekong that flows in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces in northern Thailand. Source The river originates in the Daen Lao Range, Shan State, Myanmar. It flows east ...

near the border with

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, about a three hour drive north of

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city i ...

. The central village of the subdistrict is ''Ban Tha Ton''.

History

The river forms part of the border and consequently the village has changed hands numerous times in the turbulent history of the area with the latest change happening in the early-20th century when the border was moved 3.2 km upstream leaving the north bank, previously part of Burma (Myanmar), to Thailand. This part of Tha Ton, known in Thai as Ban Rom Thai, is inhabited by the Shan ethnic group. The area around Tha Ton is populated by various hill tribes including Yao,

Lisu Lisu may refer to: *Lisu people, an ethnic group of Southeast Asia *Lisu language, spoken by the Lisu people * Old Lisu Alphabet or Fraser Alphabet *Lisu syllabary *Lisu (Unicode block), the block of Unicode characters for the Lisu language. * Lisu ...

, Lahu,

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

, and

Akha Akha or Ikaw may refer to: *Akha, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran *Akha, alternate name of Dinan, Mazandaran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Akha people * Akha language * Akha Bhagat (1615–1674; aka Akha Rahiyadas Soni) ...

. Tha Ton is also home to Chinese nationalists forced to flee from their home-in-exile after the coup in Burma.

Administration

Central administration

The ''tambon'' is divided into 15 administrative villages (''

muban Muban ( th, หมู่บ้าน; , ) is the lowest administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as ' hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74,944 administrative m ...

s'').

Local administration

The sub-district is governed by the sub-district administrative organization (SAO) Tha Ton (องค์การบริหารส่วนตำบลท่าตอน)

Tourism

Tha Ton is on the widely travelled tourist route between Chiang Mai and

Chiang Rai Chiang Rai ( th, เชียงราย, ; nod, , เจียงฮาย, ) is the northernmost major city in Thailand, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is located in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Ra ...

. Since the 1970s, riverboat trips between Chiang Rai and Tha Ton have given foreign tourists as well as native Thais the opportunity to visit jungle, observe different ethnic groups, and see the Fang Plain, bringing an influx of capital into the local economy. In the 1980s, this trend continued with the building of several small resorts to accommodate tourists.

Wat Tha Ton

The village is overlooked by a hilltop

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple known as Wat Tha Ton. The temple complex includes four huge statues of the Buddha, two in typical Thai-style and two showing Chinese influence. One of these, the standing Buddha, is over 10 m tall. Overall, there are nine stations which include statues or shrines. The eighth station houses the monastery and various shrines. The ninth station is a 2 km walk along a paved footpath with elevation gain. File:Wat Tha Ton.JPG File:Wat Tha Ton06.JPG File:Wat Tha Ton02.JPG File:Wat Tha Ton04.JPG Tha Ton, Thaton, Panoramic view, Thailand.jpg Tha Ton, Bridge over Kok River, Mae Ai, Thailand.jpg Tha Ton, Temple, Thailand.jpg Tha Ton, Statue, Thailand.jpg Tha Ton, Fields, Mae Ai, Thailand.jpg Tha Ton, Haystacks, Mae Ai, Thailand.jpg

References

External links

*
History and pictures of Wat Tha Ton temple

Tha Ton at Thaitambon.com
(Thai) {{coord, 20, 3, 39, N, 99, 21, 44, E, type:adm3rd_region:TH, display=title Tambon of Chiang Mai province Populated places in Chiang Mai province