Kawkareik

Kawkareik
ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ
Town

The sign reads: "A warm welcome from Kawkareik."
Kawkareik
Location in Myanmar (Burma)
Coordinates: 16°33′20″N 98°14′24″E / 16.55556°N 98.24000°E / 16.55556; 98.24000Coordinates: 16°33′20″N 98°14′24″E / 16.55556°N 98.24000°E / 16.55556; 98.24000
Country  Myanmar
Division  Kayin State
District Kawkareik District
Township Kawkareik Township
Population (2014) 98,000
 • Religions Buddhism and Christianity
Time zone UTC+6.30 (MMT)

Kawkareik (Phlone ဍုံကေါဝ်တြာ်; Burmese: ကော့ကရိတ်; S'gaw Karen: ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ) is a town in Kayin State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Kawkareik District and Kawkareik Township.

History

The Kawkareik Pass across the Tenasserim Hills is named after this town. The Pass was the access route from Thailand used by the Japanese Fifteenth Army, consisting of two infantry divisions under Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida, when it invaded the southern Burmese province of Tenasserim (now Tanintharyi Region) in January 1942.

In January 2009, the forces of the Karen National Union and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army clashed outside Kawkareik. The DKBA set up their military command post inside the town, and although DKBA soldiers burned down several civilian houses and detained dozens of citizens in villages across the border in Thailand, Kawkareik was left intact.[1]

Transport

Kawkareik lies on the East-West Economic Corridor that links the South China Sea at Da Nang to Mawlamyine through Mae Sot and Myawaddy.[2]

Education

The town has two public high schools; BEHS (1) Kawkareik and BEHS (2) Kawkareik.

Paddy field in Kawkareik

There is no higher education institution in Kawkareik.

Healthcare

Kawkareik District Public Hospital serves the people of Kawkareik and its surrounding areas.

Notable people from Kawkareik

References

  1. ↑ "DKBA soldiers burn down huts, detain villagers and loot property in Thailand". Karen Human Rights Group. January 20, 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011.
  2. ↑ "East-West Economic corridor still in planning stage: ADB official". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 2017-10-25.


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