Mae Sot
city in Tak province, Thailand
Mae Sot (Northern Thai: ᨾᩯ᩵ᩈᩬᨯ; Thai: แม่สอด, pronounced [mɛ̂ː sɔ̀ːt]; Burmese: မဲဆောက်, [mɛ́ sʰaʊʔ]; Shan: မႄႈသွတ်ႇ, [mɛ sʰɔt̚]) is a city in western Thailand that shares a border with Myanmar to the west. It is notable as a trade hub and for its substantial population of Burmese migrants and refugees. The city is part of Tak Province, 87 km from the city of Tak and 492 km from Bangkok. It is home to the district headquarters of Mae Sot District, and is the main gateway between Thailand and Burma. As a result, it has gained notoriety for its trade in gems and teak, as well as black market services such as human trafficking and illicit drugs.
History
In 1937 Mae Sot was a local administration, administered by a headman, usually called village headman or village chief (ผู้ใหญ่บ้าน phu yai ban). Its population at the time was approximately 12,000 people. On 30 September 1939 Mae Sot was established as a municipalitity and governed 27 villages. It was upgraded to a city municipality in 2010.
In 1997, the Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge opened across the Moei River connecting Mae Sot with Myawaddy.
“Mae Sot” enters the record as city in Tak province, Thailand. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what city, province and Thailand can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Mae Sot” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, city, province and Thailand provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1015445. VIAF identifies the subject as 157069652. The Library of Congress control number is n00050540. Authority coordinates are 16.710, 98.571. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937, 1939, 2010 and 1997.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mae Sot”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mae Sot primary sources, Mae Sot archive and city research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mae Sot”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mae Sot” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.