Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand ( Thai : อ่าว ไทย - Ao Thai , formerly Gulf of Siam ) is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that extends to the west and north of the approximately 2600 kilometers of coast of Thailand , to the southwest of Malaysia and to the east of Cambodia and Vietnam is enclosed. In the south it borders the South China Sea .
Geography and ecology
The Gulf separates the eastern Indochinese from the Malay Peninsula in the west. The coastline runs from Cape Bai Bung in Vietnam in the east to the east bank of the mouth of the Sungai Kelantan in Kota Bahru (Malaysia) in the southwest. In the south, the Gulf of Thailand merges into the South China Sea and has an area of around 750 km × 570 kilometers, with an area of around 320,000 km².
The rivers Mae Nam Chao Phraya (with the tributary Tha Chin ) and the Mae Nam Mae Klong flow into the sea in the bay of Bangkok at the northern end of the gulf . Another tributary is the Mae Nam Tapi , which flows into the Gulf in the Bay of Bandon near Surat Thani .
Due to the continued sedimentation of the Chao Phraya, the coast of central Thailand is advancing further and further south. Ten to 20 kilometers off the coast, the water depth is only eleven meters. The average depth of the gulf is only 45 meters, the deepest point is 80 meters. During the height of the last ice age , the gulf was largely above sea level and formed an extension of what is now the Chao Phraya plain in central Thailand.
At the same time, there is pronounced coastal erosion in Thailand, for example :
| province | Coastline | endangered | |
| Prachuap Khiri Khan | 190 km | 43 km | 23% |
| Nakhon Si Thammarat | 190 km | 112 km | 59% |
| Chumphon | 185 km | 16.8 km | 9% |
| Stepped | 180 km | 9.8 km | 5% |
| Songkhla | 150 km | 42.5 km | 28% |
| Surat Thani | 135 km | 23.5 km | 17% |
| Pattani | 120 km | 23.5 km | 20% |
| Rayong | 95 km | 25.8 km | 27% |
| Chonburi | 81 km | 9.4 km | 12% |
| Chanthaburi | 80 km | 4.6 km | 6% |
| Phetchaburi | 75 km | 36.5 km | 49% |
| Narathiwat | 50 km | 38.5 km | 77% |
| Samut Prakan | 45 km | 30 km | 67% |
| Samut Sakhon | 36 km | 31 km | 86% |
| Samut Songkhram | 20 km | 6.5 km | 33% |
| Chachoengsao | 15 km | 9 km | 60% |
| Bangkok | 5.5 km | 5.5 km | 100% |
| Comparison values thail. Provinces on the Andaman Sea | |||
| Phang-nga | 216 km | 28 km | 13% |
| Phuket | 185 km | 4.6 km | 2% |
| Satun | 168 km | 15 km | 9% |
| Krabi | 160 km | 17 km | 11% |
| Trang | 150 km | 22.6 km | 15% |
| Ranong | 135 km | 26.5 km | 20% |
| total | 2666.5 km | 561.6 km | 22% |
The current within the Gulf is very slow, which leads to strong sedimentation and, in combination with the strong influx of fresh water, a relatively low salt content of 3.05–3.25% (Pacific: 3.45%). Only at greater depths does more salty water flow from the South China Sea into the Gulf and collect at depths below 50 m.
The warm water of this tropical sea favored the formation of coral reefs in many places . But here, too, the reefs are threatened by global warming and excessively high water temperatures. The coral bleaching is spreading and threatens the tourism as well as fishing.
There are many islands off the coasts of the mainland, for example Ko Samui , Kaôh Kŏng or Phú Quốc .
economy
Economically, the Gulf is of particular importance as the largest fishing area in Thailand. There are also smaller oil and somewhat more abundant natural gas deposits . Tourism has been gaining in importance since the second half of the 20th century and is already the most important industry in some regions. As early as the 1970s and 1980s, Pattaya (Thailand, southeast of Bangkok) grew from a small fishing village to a center of international tourism, with all the side effects and undesirable developments of mass tourism such as “hotel castles” or sex tourism . Another "vacation paradise" is the island of Ko Samui , where a slightly different, gentler way of development is being tried. For divers , the small island of Ko Tao , not far from Samui, is of particular interest, which is one of the most beautiful and richest dive sites in the Gulf of Thailand due to its abundance of fish and the well-preserved coral banks.
Web links
Coordinates: 9 ° N , 102 ° E