Phang Nga (Thai: พังงา, RTGS: Phangnga, pronounced [pʰāŋ.ŋāː]) is a town (thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand, capital of Phang Nga Province. The town covers the whole tambon Thai Chang of Mueang Phang Nga district. As of 2005 it had a population of 9,559 and covered an area of 6.75 km². Phang Nga is 764 km from Bangkok by road.
The municipal administration was created on 11 February 1937. The town is subdivided into nine wards (chumchon).
The Peranakan Chinese (/pəˈrɑːnəˌkɑːn, -kən/) are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (Chinese: 南洋; pinyin: nán yáng; lit. 'Southern Ocean'), namely the British, Portuguese, and Dutch colonial ports in the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian Archipelago, as well as Singapore. The Peranakan Chinese are often simply referred to as the Peranakans. Peranakan culture, especially in the dominant Peranakan centres of Malacca, Singapore, Penang, Phuket, and Tangerang, is characterized by its unique hybridization of ancient Chinese culture with the local cultures of the Nusantara region, the result of a centuries-long history of transculturation and interracial marriage.
Immigrants from the southern provinces of China arrived in significant numbers in the region between the 14th and 17th centuries, taking abode in the Malay Peninsula (where their descendants in Malacca, Singapore and Penang are referred to as Baba–Nyonya); the Southern Thailand (where their descendants are referred to as Baba-Yaya), primarily in Phuket, Trang, Phang Nga, Takua Pa, and Ranong; Terengganu (where their descendants are referred to as Cheng Mua Lang) and North Borneo from the 18th century (where their descendants in Sabah are also referred to as Sino-Natives). Intermarriage between these Chinese settlers and their Malay, Thai, Javanese, or other predecessors in the region contributed to the emergence of a distinctive hybrid culture and ostensible phenotypic differences. Through colonisation of the region, the impact and presence of the Peranakan Chinese spread beyond Nusantara. In Sri Lanka, the Peranakan Chinese went on to contribute to the development of the Sri Lankan Malay identity that emerged in the nation during Dutch rule.
The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (Burmese: တနင်္သာရီ တောင်တန်း, [tənɪ̀ɰ̃θàjì tàʊɰ̃dáɰ̃]; Thai: ทิวเขาตะนาวศรี, RTGS: Thio Khao Tanao Si, pronounced [tʰīw kʰǎw tā.nāːw sǐː]; Malay: Banjaran Tanah Seri/Banjaran Tenang Sari) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia.
Despite their relatively scant altitude these mountains form an effective barrier between Thailand and Myanmar in their northern and central region. There are only two main transnational roads and cross-border points between Kanchanaburi and Tak, at the Three Pagodas Pass and at Mae Sot. The latter is located beyond the northern end of the range, where the Tenasserim Hills meet the Dawna Range. Minor cross-border points are Sing Khon, near Prachuap Khiri Khan, as well as Bong Ti and Phu Nam Ron west of Kanchanaburi. The latter is expected to gain in importance if the planned Dawei Port Project goes ahead, along with a highway and a railway line between Bangkok and that harbor.