Trat province

Trat province (ตราด, ), also spelt Trad province, is one of Thailand's seventy-seven provinces (changwat), and is located in the region of eastern Thailand. It borders Chanthaburi province to the northwest, and Cambodia and its provinces of Pailin, Battamabang, Pursat, and Koh Kong to its north, northeast and east. To the south, it borders the Gulf of Thailand and Pacific Ocean. In Thailand, it is the 15th smallest province at 2819 km2 and 4th least populated province at 229,958 in 2019. Its capital is Trat town.

During the Ayutthaya kingdom, Trat became an important location for trade. During the 1893 Paknam crisis, French soldiers occupied the province, with Siam handing over Trat to French colonial rule in return for Chanthaburi province. However, Trat was returned to Siam in 1907 in return for Siamese land along the Mekong river.

Trat is 315 km from Bangkok. The province also serves as a major center for fruit growing, gem mining and fishing in the region.

Toponymy
Trat is believed to be a corruption of "Krat"(กราด) the Thai name for the tree Dipterocarpus intricatus, common to the region and used to make brooms. It is also spelt Trad.

History
The history of Trat can be traced back to the early 17th century during the reign of King Prasat Thong of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Formerly known as Mueang Thung Yai, Trat has played an important role in the development of the country's stability and economy due to its strategic location. The town of Trat later become a community of Chinese merchants.

After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese in 1767, Trat served as a checkpoint and buffer city and was responsible for providing provisions to King Taksin the Great before he moved his forces from Chanthaburi to Ayutthaya. King Taksin then succeeded in driving out the Burmese invaders and liberated the kingdom from foreign rule.



In the Rattanakosin era, during the 1893 Paknam crisis, French troops landed and occupied the western part of Chantaburi province. In 1904, Siam was forced to surrender Trat to French Indochina to regain Chantaburi. Three years later, however, finding that Trat with its almost entirely Thai population was hard to rule, the French returned Trat to Thailand on 23 March 1907, in exchange for larger areas along the Mekong river, which included Battambang, Siemreap, and Serei Sophoan, which all have a Khmer majority population.

During the French-Thai War of 1940–1941, the Vichy French navy sailed from Saigon to seize Trat. The unprepared Thai warships were caught by surprise. By the end of the 17 January 1941 Battle of Ko Chang, three Thai ships had been left sinking: the HTMS Chonburi, HTMS Songkhla, and HTMS Thonburi. French casualties were light with no ships lost. The Japanese government negotiated a truce, which ended the conflict without further fighting.

When the Vietnamese pushed the Khmer Rouge out of Cambodia in 1985, Pol Pot fled to Thailand and made his headquarters in a plantation villa near Trat. It was built for him by the Thai Army and nicknamed "Office 87".

Geography
The province covers a land area of 2917 km2. The total forest area is 899 km2 or 31.4 percent of provincial area.

The Cardamom mountain range forms the boundary to Cambodia in the east of the province, where Trat has borders with three Cambodian provinces: Battambang, Pursat, and Koh Kong.

The third biggest island of Thailand is the province's Ko Chang (after Phuket and Ko Samui). The island and more than 40 surrounding smaller islands form the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park.

Other islands of the province include Ko Kham, Ko Mak, and Ko Phi.

National parks
There are two national parks, along with five other national parks, make up region 2 (Si Racha) of Thailand's protected areas.
 * Mu Ko Chang National Park, 650 km2
 * Namtok Khlong Kaeo National Park, 198 km2

Climate
Most of Thailand receives from 1400 mm to 1600 mm of precipitation per year. Two provinces, Trat and Ranong, receive more than 4500 mm a year, making them the wettest places in the country.

Economy
Trat, along with Chanthaburi, serves as a major site of ruby mining in the country. Local businesses often participate in trade with Cambodians.

Symbols
The provincial seal shows the sea with the Khao Banthat mountain range in the background.

The provincial tree is the tropical almond (Terminalia catappa).

Provincial government
The province is divided into seven districts (amphoes). These are further divided into 38 subdistricts (tambons) and 261 villages (mubans).
 * 1) Mueang Trat /məʊŋtrɑt/
 * 2) Khlong Yai /klɔŋjɑɪ/
 * 3) Khao Saming /kăo-sà-mĭŋ/
 * 4) Bo Rai bɔː rɑɪ/
 * 5) Laem Ngop /læmŋɔːb/
 * 6) Ko Kut gɔguːd/
 * 7) Ko Chang /gɔtʃɑːŋ/

Local government
As of 26 November 2019 there are: one Trat Provincial Administration Organisation (ongkan borihan suan changwat) and 14 municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. Trat has town (thesaban mueang) status. Further 13 subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon). The non-municipal areas are administered by 29 Subdistrict Administrative Organisations – SAO (ongkan borihan suan tambon).

Air
Trat is served by Trat Airport, built and operated by Bangkok Airways.

Human achievement index 2022
Since 2003, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand has tracked progress on human development at sub-national level using the Human achievement index (HAI), a composite index covering all the eight key areas of human development. National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has taken over this task since 2017.