Tambon administrative organization

Tambon (Thai: ; pronounced [tām.bōn]) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (amphoe) and province (changwat), they form the third administrative subdivision level. As of 2009 there were 7,255 tambon, not including the 169 khwaeng of Bangkok, which are set at the same administrative level, thus every district contains eight to ten tambon. "Tambon" is usually translated as "township" or "subdistrict" in English — the latter is the recommended translation, though also often used for king amphoe, the designation for a subdistrict acting as a branch (Thai: "king") of the parent district. Tambon are further subdivided into 69,307 villages (muban), about ten per tambon. Tambon within cities or towns are not subdivided into villages, but may have less formal communities called chumchon () that may be formed into community associations.

The tambon as a subdivision has a long history. It was the second-level subdivision of the area administered by a provincial town in the 19th century. The governor of the province was supposed to appoint a communal elder, kamnan or phan.

In the administrative reforms started in 1892 under Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, the first Thai Minister of the Interior, the three levels of subdivision of provinces were continued, i.e., starting from district to tambon to the lowest level called muban.

The subdistricts are subdivided into administrative villages (muban, หมู่บ้าน) as the lowest administrative subdivision. Usually these are referred to much more often by the village number than the actual name, especially as an administrative village may contain more than one settlement, or a large settlement may be split into more than one administrative village. One of the elected village headmen is elected as the subdistrict headman (Kamnan).

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