Yala Provincial Hall—Yala, Thailand. - Capitol Buildings on Waymarking.com

The Kingdom of Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, governed by a democratically elected government. The second level of government, below the national, is the provincial. There are 76 provinces in the Kingdom, plus the special administrative area of Bangkok, and the City of Pattaya, which is an autonomous region in the province of Chonburi. These last two have the privilege of electing their own governors, but the remaining provinces are governed by officials appointed by the national Ministry of the Interior. Every Thai province shares the name of its capital.

These officials enjoy the title of governor. Their duties are to carry out the laws of the land and implement the policy of the central government. There is no separate provincial legislature. Generally speaking, these positions go to senior, experienced bureaucrats. A powerful, but not glamorous position.

The governor's office is known in English as the Provincial Hall, in Thai: Sala Klang Changwat. This is invariably a multi-story, white, rectangular building, in the 'Thai' style. In front, a parking area, a statue of King Chulalongkorn (the fifth King of the royal dynasty, who was responsible for the modern Thai administrative structure), and a flag pole with the Thai flag flying. These provincial halls are usually located in a government sector, near the centre of the capital, along with several other provincial level government instrumentalities, for example the provincial law courts.


Yala is one of the three 'deep south' provinces of Thailand, abutting Malaysia, and one of the four provinces of the Kingdom with a Muslim majority. It is located on the west coast of the Malaysian peninsular, ~800kms south of Bangkok. The provincial hall is found near the city centre, in conjunction with several other governmental buildings, and surrounding a small park, which contains the City Shrine.

Due to the security issues in the province (Muslim independence insurgency), entry is restricted, however, when I visited, of their own volition the guards invited me inside the grounds of the provincial hall (I suspect they were bored and wanted to chat to me in English). There are two halls here, one is the old hall, and the other the new. Both follow the standard design, however, the statue of King Chula is in a nearby park. The new hall is the waymark location.

Type of Capitol: National Address: Big Circle Rd Yala, Yala Thailand. Dates of Construction: Unknown Hours: Mon–Fri: 09.00-17.00 Major Renovations: Not listed Capitol Web Site: Not listed Historical Monuments/Memorials: Not listed

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