Amphoe

An amphoe (sometimes also amphur, Thai: อำเภอ,  [ʔāmpʰɤ̄ː]) is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as district, amphoe make up the provinces, and are analogous to a county. The chief district officer is the Nai Amphoe (นายอำเภอ). Amphoe are further subdivided into tambon.

Altogether Thailand has 878 districts, not including the 50 districts of Bangkok which are called khet (เขต) since the Bangkok administrative reform of 1972. The number of amphoe in a province differs, from only 3 in the smallest provinces up to the 50 urban districts of Bangkok. Also the sizes and population of the amphoe differs greatly, the lowest population being in Ko Kut (Trat Province) with just 2,042 citizens, while Mueang Samut Prakan (Samut Prakan Province) has 509,262 citizens. The khet of Bangkok have the smallest areas – Khet Samphanthawong is the smallest with only 1.4 km² – while the amphoe of the sparsely populated mountain regions are bigger than some provinces – Umphang (Tak Province) with 4,325.4 km² is the largest and also has the lowest population density.