Myeik, Myanmar

Myeik was the southernmost part of the Pagan Kingdom between the 11th and 13th centuries. After the Pagan Empire's collapse in 1287, Myeik became part of successive Thai kingdoms from the late 13th century to the middle of 18th century: first the Sukhothai Kingdom and later the Ayutthaya Kingdom. A brief period of Burmese rule interrupted this between 1564–93.

From the 16th century on, the city was an important seaport and trading center with the Europeans, who would land at Mergui, travel upriver to Tenasserim and then cross the mountains to reach Ayutthaya. The French officer Chevalier de Beauregard was made Governor of the city of Myeik after the Anglo-Siamese war (1687) that resulted in the English being expelled from Siam.[3] De Beauregard was named Governor by Narai, the king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, replacing an Englishman, Samuel White.[4] The French were then expelled from Myeik following the Siamese revolution of 1688.

The Burmese captured Myeik in 1765 as part of an invasion that would ultimately topple the Ayutthaya kingdom in 1767. In 1826, the Burmese ceded the region to the British after the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826).

In the Pacific Theater of World War II, Imperial Japanese forces used laborers to construct the Mergui Road to aid their retreat after rail line were destroyed by Allied bombings.

Clock Tower

Myeik has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year. There is a short winter dry season (December–January), however, as is typical in locations within this climate regime, this period sees some rain as well. There is a long wet season (February–November), with particularly heavy rain falling from May to September.

The inhabitants of the city are descended from many ethnic groups, including Bamars, Burmese Indian, Burmese Chinese, Karen, Mon, and Moken. They speak a dialect of the Burmese language known as the Myeik dialect. According to the 2014 census, Myeik has a total population of 284,498.[8]

Myeik's is home to several Burmese pagodas, the largest of which is the Theindawgyi Pagoda.[9]

Port of Myeik

The population is engaged in fishing, production of natural rubber and coconuts, manufacture of fermented shrimp paste, the collection of edible bird's nests and pearl farming. Seafood products like dried fish, dried prawn and ngapi (shrimp paste) are other industries. Mergui is a gateway to the 800 offshore islands of the Mergui Archipelago, which are developing a tourist trade. Tourism in the area is restricted to cruises as land based accommodations are currently non-existent on the islands

• Myeik University
• Technological University, Myeik
• Computer University, Myeik

• Myeik Public Hospital

• Htay Myint
• Lwin Moe
• Ngwe Gaing
• Hla Than

• Myeik Airport

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Myeik.

• Anderson, John (1890). English Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-24548-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• General Desfarges; Vollant des Verquains, Jean (2002). Three Military Accounts of the 1688 "revolution" in Siam. Orchid Press. ISBN 978-974-524-005-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Pardieu, Vincent (December 2007) "South Sea Cultured Pearls From Mergui, Burma (Myanmar)"

• Myeik Walking Tour - a free, bilingual guide to Myeik's architecture and history
• Helfer in the Islands - the journal and routes of Dr. Johann W. Helfer, who explored the Mergui Archipelago in 1838-9