Kawthaung Township

Kawthaung Township
Township
Kawthaung Township Location in Burma
Coordinates: 9°59′N 98°33′E / 9.983°N 98.550°ECoordinates: 9°59′N 98°33′E / 9.983°N 98.550°E
Country	Burma
Region	Taninthayi Region
District	Kawthaung District
Capital	Kawthaung
Time zone	MST (UTC+6.30)

Kawthaung Township (Burmese: ကော့သောင်မြို့နယ်; Thai: เกาะสอง, rtgs: Ko Song; meaning Second Island or Twice Island) is a township of Kawthaung District in the Taninthayi Division of Myanmar. The principal town is Kawthaung.

History

At 1859, a local Chinese and Thais group is settled at Maliwan, a village 24 miles north of Kawthaung (then Victoria Point). Maliwan is noted for its numerous lakes and flower trees called Maliwan in Thai Language. And at 1865, an Arab-Malay group led by Nayuda Ahmed, traveling and collecting sea products around Mergui Archipelago start to form a base and village at bay of Victoria Point.

In 1872 the third mayor of Mergui District, Sir Ashly Din (1870–1875) assigned the first police officer to be stationed at Maliwan. In 1891, the local government offices were moved from Maliwan to Kawthaung because Maliwan is located on the bank of a small shallow river, Maliwan Creek, unsuitable for large ships to enter and waiting tide water.