Khwaeng is an administrative subdivision used in the 50 districts of Bangkok. As of 2009 there are 169 khwaeng in all. A khwaeng is roughly equivalent to a tambon

Tambon

Tambon is a local government unit in Thailand. Below district and province , they form the third administrative subdivision level. As of the 2009 there are 7255 tambon, not including the 169 khwaeng of Bangkok, which are set at the same administrative level, thus every district contains 8-10 tambon...

in other provinces of Thailand. With the creation of the special administrative area of Bangkok in 1972 the tambon within the area of the new administrative entity were converted into khwaeng. The recommended English translation is subdistrict.

Historically, in some regions of the country khwaeng referred to subdivisions of a province (then known as mueang

Mueang

Mueang were historical semi-independent city-states or principalities in present-day Thailand, Laos, parts of northern Vietnam and the Shan State of Myanmar. Smaller Mueang were subordinate to more powerful neighboring Mueang, which in turn were subordinate to the central king, as described in...

, predating the modern term changwat), while in others they were called amphoe

Amphoe

An amphoe is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as district, amphoe make up the provinces, and are analogous to a county seat...

. Administrative reforms at the beginning of the 20th century standardized them to the term amphoe.