{"id":1848,"date":"2026-04-18T17:01:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/glossary\/tesaban\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T10:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:29:42","slug":"tesaban","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/tesaban\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25: \u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e43\u0e19\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e44\u0e17\u0e22"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u0e40\u0e2d <strong>\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25<\/strong> (\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25, official spelling <em>thesaban<\/em>, \u0e2b\u0e23\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e17\u0e35\u0e48\u0e40\u0e02\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e27\u0e48\u0e32 <em>\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25<\/em>) \u0e04\u0e37\u0e2d <strong>municipality in Thailand<\/strong>, the form of elected local government used for towns and cities under the Municipality Act B.E. 2496 (1953). There are three classes: <strong>tesaban nakhon<\/strong> (city municipality), <strong>tesaban mueang<\/strong> (town municipality) and <strong>tesaban tambon<\/strong> (sub-district municipality). The tesaban is the urban counterpart of the rural <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/aor-bor-tor\/\">\u0e2d\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e4c \u0e1a\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e4c \u0e17\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e4c<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>\u0e2a\u0e32\u0e23\u0e1a\u0e31\u0e0d<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#the-three-classes-of-municipality\">The three classes of municipality<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-a-tesaban-is-governed\">How a tesaban is governed<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-the-tesaban-does-for-a-foreign-resident-or-owner\">What the tesaban does for a foreign resident or owner<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">\u0e04\u0e33\u0e16\u0e32\u0e21\u0e17\u0e35\u0e48\u0e1e\u0e1a\u0e1a\u0e48\u0e2d\u0e22<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-three-classes-of-municipality\">The three classes of municipality<\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>\u0e23\u0e30\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a<\/th><th>\u0e41\u0e1a\u0e1a\u0e44\u0e17\u0e22<\/th><th>Main criterion<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Tesaban nakhon (city)<\/td><td>\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e19\u0e04\u0e23<\/td><td>Population of at least 50,000 and sufficient income<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Tesaban mueang (town)<\/td><td>\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e40\u0e21\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e07<\/td><td>Provincial capital, or population of at least 10,000 and sufficient income<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Tesaban tambon (sub-district)<\/td><td>\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e15\u0e33\u0e1a\u0e25<\/td><td>No population threshold in the Act: a Ministry of Interior announcement upgrades the locality (Section 9)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most tesaban tambon were sanitary districts (sukhaphiban) until May 1999, when all of them were upgraded to municipalities. A rural <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/aor-bor-tor\/\">\u0e2d\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e4c \u0e1a\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e4c \u0e17\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e4c<\/a> that grows can also be upgraded to a tesaban tambon. Pattaya City is a separate form of local government under the Pattaya City Administration Act B.E. 2542 (1999), and Bangkok is governed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration rather than as a tesaban.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-a-tesaban-is-governed\">How a tesaban is governed<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each municipality is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/juristic-person\/\">\u0e19\u0e34\u0e15\u0e34\u0e1a\u0e38\u0e04\u0e04\u0e25<\/a> \u0e14\u0e49\u0e27\u0e22 <strong>mayor<\/strong> (nayok tesamontri, \u0e19\u0e32\u0e22\u0e01\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e21\u0e19\u0e15\u0e23\u0e35) and a municipal council. The council (12, 18 or 24 members by class, Section 15) is directly elected by residents, and since the Municipality Act (No. 12) B.E. 2546 (2003) so is the mayor (Section 48 bis). The mayor serves four years and, since the Municipality Act (No. 14) B.E. 2562 (2019), may not serve more than two consecutive terms (Section 48 septem). The mayor is the <em>local official<\/em> for most of the laws that affect property and businesses inside the municipal boundary, and the municipality has its own budget, staff and by-laws (thetsabanyat).<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-the-tesaban-does-for-a-foreign-resident-or-owner\">What the tesaban does for a foreign resident or owner<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/building-permit\/\">\u0e43\u0e1a\u0e2d\u0e19\u0e38\u0e0d\u0e32\u0e15\u0e01\u0e48\u0e2d\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07<\/a>.<\/strong> Under the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979) the mayor is the local official who issues the permit to build, modify or demolish (form Or. 1), which is why a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/building-permits-as-proof-of-ownership-for-foreign-property-owners-in-thailand\/\">building permit is useful evidence of ownership<\/a> of a house. See also our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/construction-law-in-thailand\/\">\u0e01\u0e0e\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e32\u0e22\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e01\u0e48\u0e2d\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07\u0e43\u0e19\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e44\u0e17\u0e22<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u0e17\u0e30\u0e40\u0e1a\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e1a\u0e49\u0e32\u0e19.<\/strong> A municipal office is a local registration office under the Civil Registration Act B.E. 2534, so inside a tesaban the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/tabien-baan\/\">\u0e15\u0e30\u0e40\u0e1a\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19 \u0e1a\u0e32\u0e2d\u0e31\u0e19<\/a> \u0e41\u0e25\u0e30 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/thai-yellow-house-book-ta-bien-baan\/\">\u0e17\u0e30\u0e40\u0e1a\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e1a\u0e49\u0e32\u0e19\u0e2a\u0e35\u0e40\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e33\u0e2b\u0e23\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e0a\u0e32\u0e27\u0e15\u0e48\u0e32\u0e07\u0e0a\u0e32\u0e15\u0e34<\/a> are issued by the municipal registrar, not the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/amphoe-or-amphur-district-office\/\">\u0e41\u0e2d\u0e21\u0e42\u0e1f<\/a>. Marriage and divorce registration remain with the amphoe or khet.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Local taxes and licences.<\/strong> The tesaban assesses and collects the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/land-and-building-tax\/\">\u0e20\u0e32\u0e29\u0e35\u0e17\u0e35\u0e48\u0e14\u0e34\u0e19\u0e41\u0e25\u0e30\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e48\u0e07\u0e1b\u0e25\u0e39\u0e01\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07<\/a> under the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) and the signboard tax (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/property-taxes-in-thailand\/\">\u0e20\u0e32\u0e29\u0e35\u0e17\u0e35\u0e48\u0e14\u0e34\u0e19\u0e41\u0e25\u0e30\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e48\u0e07\u0e1b\u0e25\u0e39\u0e01\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07\u0e43\u0e19\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e44\u0e17\u0e22<\/a>). It issues licences under the Public Health Act B.E. 2535 (1992) for restaurants, food shops, markets and businesses classed as hazardous to health, which is one of the permits a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/airbnb-in-thailand-thai-law\/\">short-term rental or guesthouse<\/a> may need. It also runs waste collection, drainage, local roads and, in larger cities, schools and clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Last reviewed: 26 September 2026.<\/strong> Municipality Act B.E. 2496 sections 9, 10, 11, 15, 48 bis and 48 septem (as amended to No. 14 B.E. 2562), section 4 of the Act converting sanitary districts to municipalities B.E. 2542, the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 definition of local official, the Civil Registration Act B.E. 2534 provision naming the local registrar, and the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 definition of local government organisation were read in Thai.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">\u0e04\u0e33\u0e16\u0e32\u0e21\u0e17\u0e35\u0e48\u0e1e\u0e1a\u0e1a\u0e48\u0e2d\u0e22<\/h2>\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">What is the difference between a tesaban and an amphoe?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>The amphoe is a district of the state administration, headed by an appointed official, and its office registers marriages, divorces and civil status. The tesaban is an elected municipality that provides local services inside a town or city: building permits, local taxes, public health licences and, in municipal areas, house registration.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Which tesaban class does my town belong to?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Check the name on the municipal office or the tax bill: \u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e19\u0e04\u0e23 (nakhon) for cities of 50,000 or more, \u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e40\u0e21\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e07 (mueang) for towns of 10,000 or more or provincial capitals, and \u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25\u0e15\u0e33\u0e1a\u0e25 (tambon) for the rest. The class affects council size and budget, not the services you deal with.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Is the yellow book issued by the tesaban or the amphoe?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>It depends on where the house is. Inside a municipality the municipal registrar handles the tabien baan and the yellow book; outside municipal areas it is the district (amphoe) registrar.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u0e14\u0e39\u0e40\u0e1e\u0e34\u0e48\u0e21\u0e40\u0e15\u0e34\u0e21: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/aor-bor-tor\/\">Aor Bor Tor (rural sub-district authority)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/amphoe-or-amphur-district-office\/\">\u0e2d\u0e33\u0e40\u0e20\u0e2d<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/tambon\/\">\u0e15\u0e33\u0e1a\u0e25<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/glossary\/changwat\/\">\u0e08\u0e31\u0e07\u0e2b\u0e27\u0e31\u0e14\u0e0a\u0e49\u0e32\u0e07\u0e27\u0e31\u0e12<\/a> \u0e41\u0e25\u0e30\u0e04\u0e39\u0e48\u0e21\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e02\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e40\u0e23\u0e32\u0e40\u0e01\u0e35\u0e48\u0e22\u0e27\u0e01\u0e31\u0e1a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/construction-law-in-thailand\/\">construction law<\/a> \u0e41\u0e25\u0e30 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/property-taxes-in-thailand\/\">property taxes<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A tesaban (\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25, official spelling thesaban, also written tessaban) is a municipality in Thailand, the form of elected local government [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"tesaban","rank_math_title":"Tesaban (Thesaban) Meaning: Thai Municipalities Explained | ThaiLawOnline","rank_math_description":"Tesaban (\u0e40\u0e17\u0e28\u0e1a\u0e32\u0e25) is a Thai municipality: nakhon, mueang and tambon. What it does for residents and owners, from building permits to land and building tax.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":"","rank_math_canonical_url":""},"class_list":["post-1848","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1848"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8488,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1848\/revisions\/8488"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1848"}],"curies":[{"name":"\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e40\u0e1a\u0e34\u0e25\u0e22\u0e39\u0e1e\u0e35","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}