WE Smile Magazine June 2015

TRAVEL
The traditional festival for Chao Mae Tomo is
another “good thing” in Narathiwat that is
widely known by locals but not by many
outsiders.
“There are many things about Narathiwat
that Thai people may not know, such as the
fact that the King Rama IX’s royal white
elephant came from Narathiwat. The famous
picture of the King leaning against the wheel
of a jeep stuck in mud was also taken here.”
Natthapong Sirichana, the governor of
Narathiwat tells us, “And in June we will
celebrate the centenary of the day King Rama
VI formally named the city of Narathiwat.”
It’s original name was “Moo Baan Manaror”.
This small community developed into “Bang
Nara” Tambon (lesser district) in Pattani
province. Then King Rama VI visited the
southernmost provinces of Thailand and gave
a royal polearm to Bang Nara. He declared on
June 10th, 1915 that Bang Nara will now be
known as Narathiwat, which translates to
“Home of Good People”. “On this special
occasion, we are planning a big event called
‘A Hundred Years of Narathiwat’ to be held
in conjunction with the Red Cross. On the 7th
to 16th, the history of Narathiwat will be told
in a light and sound show. There will also be
a presentation on each district, and a
performance from the Fine Arts Department,”
says governor Sirichana.
From a small seaside community, today
Narathiwat is a border city that has great
potential for tourism and economy. Especially
since Thailand is about to enter the ASEAN
Economic Community. In closing, governor
Sirichana says “We think of ourselves as
Thailand’s southern gateway to the rest of
ASEAN, and in terms of tourism we are trying
to develop ourselves as a centre for border
tourism and halal tourism with an emphasis
on Chinese Muslims. Our location is extremely
suitable for this. We have air, rail, land and
sea connections. Our people and resources
are ready. In terms of economy, we have a
great potential for growth. There are trade
associations here for Muslims and Chinese.
This makes business with foreigners easier.
It’s like flowers in a vase to me. Instead of a
single flower with one colour, having many
flowers make things more appealing. I believe
diversity is valuable, and it all depends on
how you handle it.”
สนามบินนราธิวาส เป็นสนามบินเชิงพานิชย์
แห่งเดียวในสามจังหวัดชายแดนภาคใต้
Narathiwat Airport is the only
commercial airport in the three
southernmost provinces.
ปัจจุบัน สายการบินไทยสมายล์
ให้บริการเที่ยวบินไป-กลับ
กรุงเทพฯ (สุวรรณภูมิ) - นราธิวาส ทุกวัน
THAI Smile offers flights from
Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to
Narathiwat every day.
เนื่องจากสนามบินนราธิวาสเป็นพื้นที่เชิง
สัญลักษณ์ การดูแลรักษาความปลอดภัย
ภายในและรอบๆ สนามบินจึงอยู่ในความดูแล
ของหน่วยเฉพาะกิจนาวิกโยธิน กองทัพเรือ
โดยแบ่งการรักษาความปลอดภัยเป็น 3 ชั้น
ภายในรัศมี 2 กิโลเมตร นอกจากนี้ยังมี
กองกำาลังลาดตระเวนบริเวณหัวและท้าย
สนามบินระหว่างที่เครื่องบินขึ้นและลงด้วย
The airport is symbolic of Narathiwat.
Maintaining security in and around it
is of utmost importance. This is the
duty of Thailand’s special tasks
forces, the Marines and the Navy.
There are three layers of security
within a radius of two kilometres.
There are also forces patrolling the
length of the airport as planes take
off and touch down.