Pattani ปัตตานี

Pattani ปัตตานี is the provincial capital of Pattani Province in southern Thailand. The town has a population of about 45,000 people (2011 estimate), with the majority being Muslim. It comprises the districts of Sabarang, Anoru and Cabang Tiko, in addition to the Pattani town centre. Perhaps the biggest landmark in Pattani is the Pattani Central Mosque, which is the biggest mosque in Thailand.

The origin of the word Pattani is most likely Malay. It could come from the word petani, meaning "farmer", or pantai ini, meaning "this beach". The area was once the site of the kingdom of Patani Darul Makrif, a semi-independent Malay sultanate paying tribute to the Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. After the fall of Ayutthaya in the hands of the Burmese in 1767, the Sultanate of Patani enjoyed a few shortlived independence before being brought into the control of Siam under King Rama I.

In the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 negotiated between Siam and Britain, the Malay states in the northern part of the Malay peninsula were divided between Siam and Malaya. The Sultanate of Patani was turned into the provinces of Pattani (Malay: Patani), Yala (Malay: Jala) and Narathiwat (Malay: Menara). Also remaining under the control of Siam were the provinces of Satun (Malay: Setul) and Songkhla (Malay: Singgora). At the same time Siam relinquished claims to the states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which were integrated into Malaya.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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