Bo Rai District

Bo Rai
บ่อไร่
Amphoe

Amphoe location in Trat Province
Coordinates: 12°34′47″N 102°31′30″E / 12.57972°N 102.52500°E / 12.57972; 102.52500Coordinates: 12°34′47″N 102°31′30″E / 12.57972°N 102.52500°E / 12.57972; 102.52500
Country Thailand
Province Trat
Seat Bo Phloi
Area
 • Total 680.0 km2 (262.5 sq mi)
Population (2000)
 • Total 39,736
 • Density 58.4/km2 (151/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+7 (ICT)
Postal code 23140
Geocode 2304

Bo Rai (Thai: บ่อไร่, pronounced [bɔ̀ː râj]) is a township and district (amphoe) in Trat Province, eastern Thailand, in close vicinity to the Cambodian Khao Banthat Mountain Range. Neighboring districts are Mueang Trat and Khao Saming to the south, Khlung of Chanthaburi Province to the west, Pong Nam Ron of Chanthaburi to the north, and Battambang of Cambodia to the north and east.

Administration

Amphoe Bo Rai is divided into five sub-districts (tambon), which are further subdivided into 34 villages (muban). The central town is Bo Phloi, which has township status (thesaban tambon) and covers parts of the same-named tambon. As of 2005, the population in the township is 10,009. Each of the tambons is administrated by a tambon administrative organization (TAO).

No. Name Thai name Villages Pop.     
1.Bo Phloiบ่อพลอย1015,787
2.Chang Thunช้างทูน62,876
3.Dan Chumphonด่านชุมพล74,626
4.Nong Bonหนองบอน68,718
5.Nonsiนนทรีย์53,652
Once a virtual ghost town, life is coming back to Bo Rai. A view of the main street.

History

The area is renowned for its gemstone mining (rubies and sapphires) and gem trade which made Bo Rai prosper and grow. From the 1960s until the beginning of the 1990s the town experienced an economic boom, which was ended almost overnight with the exhaustion of the mining fields through plundering. The economic depression that followed was further increased by the downfall of the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent end of the border trafficking of goods and gems.

Once the centre of Thailand's gem trade, Bo Rai is now but a shadow of its former glory, yet some hope is seen in the migrating refugees coming from the troubled south. There have been attempts at economic conversion, such as the cultivation of rubber trees. There are rumours of a new Thai-Cambodian border crossing being opened in the near future, a thing welcomed and hoped for by the local population. Nevertheless, the area is battling drug resistant malaria that has crept over from Cambodia.[1]

Amphoe Bo Rai. In the background, the Cambodian Khao Banthat Mountains
Amphoe Bo Rai District Office Building

Places

References

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