Trang

Trang (also Muang Thap Thiang, Thai: ตรัง) is the one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand, at the western shore of the Malay Peninsula to the Andaman Sea. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Satun.

The province is located on the coast of the Andaman Sea, and contains 46 islands together with the mainland area. There are only few plains, and most of the area is hills. The Khao Luang and the Banthat mountain range are the sources of the two main rivers of the province, the Trang River and the Palian River.

The southern coast of the province is protected in the Mu Ko Phetra National Park. The estuary of the Trang River together with the Hat Chao Mai Marine National Park and Ko Libong Non-hunting Area are also a registered Ramsar wetland.


Trang was an important sea port of southern Thailand. According to legend the ships always arrived at morning, which lead to the name of the town - Trang derives from the Malay word for dawn. Actually, the town was located in the Khuanthani (now a tambon in district Kantang). In 1893, the then governor Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, planning to make Trang an important seaport to the west, relocated the town to district Kantang which is at Trang River delta. It was moved again to its present location 26 km inland in 1916 by King Rama VI due to repeated floodings.

The Trang area was the first area of Thailand where rubber trees were planted, brought there by governor Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi from Malaysia in 1899.