Myeik, Myanmar

Myeik (Burmese: မြိတ်မြို့; MLCTS: mrit mrui., pronounced: [mjeɪʔ mjo̰] or [beɪʔ mjo̰]; Mon: ဗိက်, [pòik]; Thai: มะริด, rtgs: Marit, pronounced [má(ʔ).rít]; formerly Mergui) is a city in Tanintharyi Region in Myanmar (Burma), located in the extreme south of the country on the coast of an island on the Andaman Sea. As of 2010 the estimated population was over 209,000. The area inland from the city is a major smuggling corridor into Thailand. The Singkhon Pass, also known as the Maw-daung Pass, has an international cross-border checkpoint.

History

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 Bamar 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 Myeik (then called Mergui), travel upriver to Tanintharyi (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 Siam-England war (1687) that resulted in the English being expelled from Siam. De Beauregard was named Governor by Narai, the king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, replacing an Englishman, Samuel White. The French were then expelled from Myeik following the Siamese revolution of 1688.