Thailand which are gathered into five groups of provinces by location. There are also two specially-governed districts: the capital Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon) and Pattaya. Bangkok is at provincial level and thus often counted as a province. Each province is divided into districts and the districts are further divided into sub-districts (tambons). there were 878 districts (อำเภอ, amphoe) and the 50 districts of Bangkok (, khet), which is further divided into 7,255 subdistricts (, tambon) in the 76 provinces or Bangkok's subdistricts (แขวง, khwaeng). Some parts of the provinces bordering Bangkok are also referred to as Greater Bangkok (, pari
Provinces of Thailand Phra Nakhon and Thonburi Provinces were merged to form the special administrative area of Bangkok, which combines the tasks of the provinces with that of a municipality, including having an elected governor. Starting in the second half of the 20th century some provinces were newly created by splitting them off from bigger provinces. In 1975, Yasothon Province was split off from Ubon Ratchathani. In 1977, Phayao province was created from districts formerly part of Chiang Rai. In 1982, Mukdahan was split off from Nakhon Phanom. In 1993 three provinces were created: Sa Kaeo (split from Prachinburi), Nong Bua Lamphu Province