Place:Ranong, Thailand

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Ranong ( . not to be confused with Rayong) is one of Thailand's southern provinces (changwat), on the west coast along the Andaman Sea. It has the fewest inhabitants of all Thai provinces (making it the least populous of all the Thai provinces). provinces neighboring Ranong are (clockwise) Chumphon, Surat Thani, and Phang Nga. To the west, it borders Kawthaung, Tanintharyi, Myanmar.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Ranong province once was a deputy town of Chumphon in the Ayutthaya era (1350–1767). It was a small, mountainous town that protected Chumphon from Burma. The population was very low until the discovery of tin, when people from many cities and foreigners started to visit Ranong to do tin business there. This also gave rise to the name Ranong, which was a distorted form of rae nong (แร่นอง), meaning "full of minerals". The ruler of Ranong was known after the town as Luang Ranong

At the start of the Rattanakosin era (1781–present), there was a wealthy Chinese merchant named Kho Su Jiang who bought all the tin business in Ranong and was appointed tax collector of Ranong, with the title Luang Rattana Setti, by King Nangklao (Rama III). In 1854, the Luang Ranong died. King Mongkut (Rama IV) then promoted Kho Su Jiang to the position, promoting him to Phra Rattana Setti. By then, Ranong's wealth had increased greatly and through taxation was a significant source of income for the capital, thus in 1877 King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) elevated Ranong to provincial status, answering directly to Bangkok as opposed to Chumphon, with Phra Rattana Setti becoming its first governor.^[1]

After the First Anglo-Burmese War, when the British assumed control of Tenasserim and the Kraburi River became the demarcation line between Siam and British-controlled Burma, Rayong became an important border city where goods were exchanged, a status which extends past the independence of Burma to the present.

Being located on the Kra Isthmus, the narrowest part (44 kilometres) of the Malay Peninsula, the idea of a canal through the area has been long suggested, particularly by the French. If successful, traveling from Europe to China would be easier because one would pass through Thailand, which was faster and cheaper, instead of circumnavigating Malaysia. This was seen as a threat to the financial growth of the harbors of Singapore and Penang, which at the time were owned by Britain, who therefore forced the suspension of the project. At the end of World War II, Thailand signed a British-imposed treaty called "The Termination of The State of War Between Siam and Allies", which forbade Thailand from digging such a canal without British permission. This treaty was revoked in 1954. Since then, plans for the canal have continued to be suggested and discussed, even in the present day, though prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in 2018 that it was not a government priority.

Ranong has also been historically significant as a residence for royal tours of the southern provinces, with many kings of Thailand visiting Ranong in the past. The first was King Chulalongkorn, who stayed at Rattana Ransan palace for three nights in 1890. The palace is now a landmark in Ranong. King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) visited in 1928, and King Bhumibol (Rama IX) and Queen Sirikit visited in 1959.

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