Mueang Bueng Kan District


Mueang Bueng Kan is a capital district of Bueng Kan Province, northeastern Thailand. It is 759 km north-northwest of Bangkok.

History

The district was originally named Chai Buri and was a part of Nakhon Phanom Province. In 1917 it was reassigned to Nong Khai, and in 1939 it was renamed Bueng Kan.
On 3 August 2010, a proposal to separate Bueng Kan Province from Nong Khai Province was approved by Thai government. On 22 March 2011, the ":s:Act Establishing Changwat Bueng Kan, BE 2554 |Act Establishing Changwat Bueng Kan, BE 2554 " was published in the Government Gazette. The district became the capital district of the new province, and therefore renamed to Amphoe Mueang Bueng Kan by section 4 of the act.
On occasions during its history, especially during the 1970s and 1980s, there have been some conflicts with Lao people on the border. On 23 April 1975, the people's armed forces in Bueng Kan destroyed an enemy stronghold, killing 12 and Thai authorities reportedly admitted that 17 were killed eventually out of about 50. In the early-1980s two patrol boats of the Thai KPL reportedly opened fire and two Lao soldiers were arrested in Bueng Kan.

Etymology

Bueng means "swamp" or "marsh".
Kan is Thai for the Hindu goddess Kali; as an adjective it may mean 'black' and as a noun, 'black mark of death'.

Geography

Neighboring districts are Bung Khla, Seka, Si Wilai, Phon Charoen, So Phisai, and Pak Khat of Bueng Kan Province. To the north across the Mekong River is the Laotian province Bolikhamxai.

Administration

The district is divided into 12 sub-districts, which are further subdivided into 131 villages. Bueng Kan is a sub-district municipality which covers parts of tambon Bueng Kan and Wisit. The remaining area of Wisit sub-district belongs to the sub-district municipality Wisit. Non Kheng, Ho Kham, Khok Kong, and Khai Si are sub-district municipalities each covering the whole same-named sub-district. There are a further seven tambon administrative organizations for those sub-districts not covered by municipalities.
Missing numbers are tambon which now form the districts Bung Khla and Si Wilai.