Ranong (ระนอง)

Thai. Name of a province (map) and its capital city, located in the Southwest of the Thai peninsula, along the Andaman Sea, 568 kms South of Bangkok and situated on a small neck of land known as Kho Khot Kra or Kiw Kra, i.e. the Isthmus of Kra (fig.), with a unique marine estuary that contains the largest preserved mangrove forests of Thailand. The city has a population of about 18,000 and borders Myanmar, separated by the Kraburi River (map - fig.). The province's name derives from the saying ‘Raenong’ which refers to both its natural resource of tin which is a mineral (rae) and the name of the city's first ruler, Nai Nong. He was the person in charge and an able ruler of the mu ban Ponrang in the present-day tambon Bang Rin. He was rewarded the bandasak of Luang Ranong at the end of the Ayutthaya Period. The province has four amphur and one king amphur. Its places of interest include Raksawarin Public Park and Hot Spring (map - fig.), Phu Khao Ya Grass Hill (fig.), Punyabaan Waterfall (map - fig.), a city lake (map - fig.), etc. See also Ranong data file and WATCH VIDEO.  回