Historical Subdivisions
From the beginning of the 20th century until 1932 there was an additional subdivision called monthon (มณฑล, circle), with some of the larger ones subdivided into boriwen (บริเวณ, area). The first provinces were named mueang (เมือง, township) as those developed from the historical city-states. There were both Mueang directly dependent from Bangkok (thus similar to the modern province), as well as Mueang under supervision of a more powerful neighbor Mueang, or part of the semi-independent tributary states. In 1906 the transition to the term changwat started, which was finalized in 1916.
After the abolishing of the monthon, a new subdivision named Region (ภาค, Phak) was established. At first there were 4 regions with changing outlines, in 1951 these were changed into 9 regions in 1951. In 1956 these regions were abolished as well.
A former municipal level were the sukhaphiban (sanitation districts, สุขาภิบาล), which were mostly responsible for sanitary tasks like waste disposal. The administrative level was created in 1908, in May 1999 all were converted into thesaban tambon.
Until 2007 minor districts (King Amphoe) were a special kind of districts, still partially a subordinate of another district. Usually newly created districts at first became minor districts and were upgraded to full districts after a few years. It became effective on August 24, 2007 that all 81 minor districts were upgraded to full districts, despite many still not reaching the prerequisites for becoming a full district.
Read more about this topic: Subdivisions Of Thailand
Famous quotes containing the word historical:
“Religion means goal and way, politics implies end and means. The political end is recognizable by the fact that it may be attained—in success—and its attainment is historically recorded. The religious goal remains, even in man’s highest experiences, that which simply provides direction on the mortal way; it never enters into historical consummation.”
—Martin Buber (1878–1965)