History
The city received its name, which means City of Good People, by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) in 1915. The name was given to the city due to the intense devotion of the locals to Buddhism. Previously the city was known as Bandon, meaning Village on higher ground. The name of the city is taken from the Indian city Surat, situated in Gujarat, on the coast of Indian river Tapi. King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) gave this name to his city as he was impressed with the Indian city.
On December 21 1930 Surat Thani became a sanitary district (sukhaphiban), which was upgraded to a town (thesaban mueang) on December 7 1935, with a municipal area of 2.67 km². The area of the municipality was enlarged to 6.95 km² on October 14 1958, and on December 22 1994 it was further enlarged to 68.97 km². On May 4 2007, the town was upgraded to city status (thesaban nakhon).
Since 1969 Surat Thani is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Surat Thani, responsible for about 6000 Catholic Christians in southern Thailand.
Read more about this topic: Surat Thani
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of our era is the nauseating and repulsive history of the crucifixion of the procreative body for the glorification of the spirit.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The awareness that health is dependent upon habits that we control makes us the first generation in history that to a large extent determines its own destiny.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)