Thaton

Thaton, town, southern Myanmar (Burma), situated on the Tenasserim plains in the northern part of the narrow coastal strip known as Tenasserim. Once a lively seaport, Thaton, because of silting, is now 10 miles (16 km) from the Gulf of Martaban, an inlet of the Andaman Sea. The town was an early Talaing (Mon) capital and was subject to Indian influence from the time of Aśoka. With the growth of Pegu, 70 miles (110 km) northwest across the gulf, Thaton declined politically, but it remained a centre of Indian culture until the 11th century, when it fell to the Burmans under Anawrahta. The town has an airfield and is on the Yangon- (Rangoon-) Ye railway line. It is the site of a laterite pagoda. Pop. (latest est.) 40,846.