Samut Sakhon province

Toponymy

The word samut originates from the Sanskrit word samudra meaning 'ocean', and the word sakhon from Sanskrit sagara meaning 'lake'.

Geography

Neighboring provinces are (from the southwest clockwise) Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom, and Bangkok. Samut Sakhon is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

Samut Sakhon is at the mouth of the Tha Chin River, a distributary of the Chao Phraya River, to the Gulf of Thailand. At the coast are many salt pans used for harvesting sea salt. The total forest area is 42 km² or 4.9 percent of provincial area.

Climate

Samut Sakhon province has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification category Aw). Winters are dry and warm. Temperatures rise until May. The monsoon season runs from May through October, with heavy rain and somewhat cooler temperatures during the day, although nights remain warm. Climatological data for the period 1981–2010: Maximum temperature is 39.7 °C (103.5 °F) in April and May and the lowest temperature is 12.0 °C (53.6 °F) in December. The highest average temperature is 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) in April and the minimum average temperature is 22.0 °C (71.6 °F) in December. Mean annual rainfall is 1648 millimeters. The maximum daily rainfall is 248 millimeters in May. Mean rainy days average 130 days per year.

History

The oldest name of the area is Tha Chin ('Chinese pier'), probably referring to the fact that it was a trading port where Chinese junks arrived. In 1548 the city Sakhon Buri was established, and was renamed Mahachai in 1704 after the Khlong Mahachai which was dug then and connected with the Tha Chin River near the town. King Mongkut gave it its current name, but the old name Mahachai is still sometimes used by locals. It was established by the Act Establishing Changwat Samut Prakan, Changwat Nonthaburi, Changwat Samut Sakhon, and Changwat Nakhon Nayok, Buddhist Era 2489 (1946), which came into force on 9 May 1946.

Economy and environment

Formerly an agricultural- and fisheries-based province, Samut Sakhon in 2020 has more than 6,000 factories, most of them small, employing fewer than 50 workers, and too small to warrant much attention from Thailand's Pollution Control Department (PCD). Small firms lack the budgets to install the environmental gear that would help protect the environment. As a result, Samut Sakhon is one of the most polluted provinces in the nation.

Soil and water samples from the industrial area of Mueang District were found to be contaminated with high levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium, zinc, copper, and nickel. High levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPS), byproducts of industrial processes, were present in eggs from free-range chickens. An egg tested by researchers was found to have 84 nanograms per kilogram of dioxins and furans, a level 33 times higher than the safety limit observed by the European Union.

The most polluted air in Thailand in 2018 was found to be in Samut Sakhon province. According to the PCD, the level of PM2.5 in the provincial atmosphere in 2019 was unusually high, measuring as high as 195 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3). During the air pollution "season" of 2018–2019, PM2.5 levels exceeded the PCD's safe threshold of 50 μg/m3 for 41 days.

Samut Sakhon is a leading sea salt producer. According to a survey in 2011, 12,572 rai of salt pans were managed by 242 families in Samut Sakhon.

The number of factories in 2022 was 6,458 with a workforce of 372,282 people.

Health

Hospitals

Samut Sakhon Hospital with 600 beds, is the main hospital of Samut Sakhon province, operated by the Ministry of Public Health. In Mueang district there are also: Ekachai Hospital with 142 beds, Mahachai 3 Hospital with 180 beds, Jesada Vechakarn Hospital with 10 beds and Metropolitan Hospital Tha Chalom.

In Krathum Baen district operates the ministry a general hospital, Krathum Baen Hospital with 300 beds.

Ban Phaeo district is served by Ban Phaeo General Hospital with 323 beds, the only hospital public organisation in Thailand.

Health promoting hospitals

There are total fifty-four health-promoting hospitals in the province, of which; twenty-three in Mueang district, twelve in Krathum Baen district and nineteen in Ban Phaeo district.

Education

Anno 2024, there are total 146 primary/secondary schools in the province, of which:

• Mueang district - 78 schools
• Krathum Baen district - 32 schools
• Ban Phaeo district - 36 schools

Demographics

Population

Population history of Samut Sakhon province is as follows:

Religion

There are one hundred sixteen Theravada Buddhist temples in the province.

Seventy in Mueang district, fifteen in Krathum Baen district and thirty-one in Ban Phaeo district.

Transportation

The province is the intersection of highway 35 eastbound (Bangkok route), highway 35 westbound (Pak Tho district, Ratchaburi province), Ekkachai road (no. 3242) (Chom Thong district, Bangkok), highway 4 eastbound (Bangkok route), south/west bound (southern Thailand).

The area is served by some fifteen bus lines.

Samut Sakhon is along the Maeklong Railway, operated by the State Railway of Thailand and is served by Mahachai railway station on the east bank of the Tha Chin River and Ban Laem railway station on the west bank.

Symbols

The provincial seal shows a Chinese junk in front of the coast, with a factory and a smoking chimney in the background. Both refer to the old trading tradition as well as the local industries.

The provincial flag is horizontally divided pink/light blue/pink (1:3:1) the provincial seal in the middle.

The provincial brand is a picture of a white factory, a fishing boat, a fish and blue water and a green leaf.

The provincial tree is commonly called blackboard tree or devil's tree (Alstonia scholaris).

The provincial aquatic animal is the short mackerel (Rastrelliger brachysoma) what with Samut Sakhon is the first province to have short mackerel fishing boat and has the largest amount of this species of fish caught in Thailand.

The provincial slogan is "Fishing city, factory town, agricultural ground, historic site".

Administrative divisions

Central government

The province is divided into three districts (amphoes). The districts are further subdivided into 40 subdistricts (tambons) and 289 villages (mubans).

Local government

As of December 2024 there are: one Samut Sakhon Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) (ongkan borihan suan changwat) and sixteen municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. The capital Samut Sakhon and Om Noi have city (thesaban nakhon) status. Three have town (thesaban mueang) status and eleven are subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon).

]]

The non-municipal areas are administered by 21 ''*Subdistrict Administrative Organizations (SAO)'''' (*ongkan borihan suan tambon''):

Mueang Samut Sakhon - 10, Krathum Baen - 4 and Ban Phaeo - 7.

The communities, although not directly chosen by the local citizens, they provides advice and recommendations to the local administrative organization are:

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.

References

References

1. (2011). "Climatological data for the period 1981–2010".