Thursday, August 20, 2009

878th district to be named "Galyani Vadhana"

When I reported on the planned new district in Chiang Mai province, the name was still listed as "Wat Chan district" (อำเภอวัดจันทร์) in most sources, but the idea of naming it in honor of the Princess Galyani Vadhana, sister of HM the King and deceased January 2nd 2008 was already in discussion.

Today, in the news section of the website of the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) it has the first really official confirmation that the district is about to be created soon, and it now also has the name fixed. That news titled "อำเภอกัลยาณิวัฒนา อำเภอที่ 878 (Galyani Vadhana district, district number 878) states that on July 7 HM the King bestowed this name to the district to be established.

The article however does not say when the district will actually get created, but now the name is set it cannot take that long anymore. The case will be presented by the Ministry of Interior to the cabinet for discussion, and after approval the royal decree will be issued.

One thing I still need to know is what will be the recommended English spelling of this district. Galyani Vadhana is the spelling used normally for the Princess, however the geographical entities normally follow the RTGS transcription scheme, which then would be "Kanyani Watthana". The only other similar case, the district Vibhavadi in Surat Thani also named after a member of the Royal family, does not follow RTGS either, because it then would be spelled Wiphawadi. So my guess is the recommended spelling will be "Galyani Vadhana" just like the one used for the Princess herself.

2 comments:

Mitch said...

Other example; A. Sirindhorn, C. Ubon Ratchathani. But, my map does not use Royal Thai Institution's.

Rikker said...

The RTGS would be "Kanlayani Watthana", not "Kanyani Watthana" -- this follows both common and official pronunciation.

cf. RID:
กัลยา [กันละยา]
กัลยาณี [กันละยานี]

But I agree that it's unlikely that the RTGS will be used.