The Gulf of Thailand is a gulf located in the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean), surrounded by the countries Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The north tip of the Gulf is the Bight of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, near Bangkok. The gulf covers roughly 320,000 km˛. The boundary of the gulf is defined by the line from Cape Bai Bung in southern Vietnam (just south of the mouth of the Mekong river) to the city Kota Baru on the Malayian coast.
The Gulf of Thailand is relatively shallow, the mean depth is 45 m, and the maximum depth only 80 m. This makes water exchange slow, and the strong water inflow from the rivers make the Gulf lower in salinity (3.05-3.25%) and also rich in sediments. Only at the higher depths water with a higher salinity (3.4%) flows into the gulf from the South China Sea and fills the central depression below a depth of 50m. The main rivers which empty into the gulf are the Chao Phraya (including its distributary Ta Chin) and the Maeklong at the Bight of Bangkok, and to a lesser degree the Tapi River into the Bandon Bay in the southwest of the gulf.
At the height of the last ice age the Gulf of Thailand did not exist at all due to the lower sea level, but did instead continue the Chao Phraya river valley.
Due to the tropical warmth of the water the Gulf of Thailand harbours many coral reefs, and thus several diving resorts. Most popular for tourism is the island Ko Samui in the Surat Thani province, while Ko Tao is the center of the diving tourism.
The gulf also contains some oil and to a larger degree natural gas resources.
The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, bordering Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west.
Thailand's origin is traditionally tied to the short-lived kingdom of Sukhothai founded in 1238, after which the larger kingdom of Ayutthaya was established in the mid-14th century.
Thailand's population is dominated by ethnic Thai and Lao, the latter concentrated in the northeastern Isan region and making up around one third of the population.
Central Thailand is dominated by a large fertile plain, formed by the country’s chief river, the Chao Phraya, and its tributaries.
Thailand is bordered on the west and northwest by Myanmar (formerly Burma); on the northeast and east by Laos and Cambodia; and on the south by the Gulf of Thailand (also known as the Gulf of Siam, the northwestern portion of the South China Sea), peninsular Malaysia, and the Andaman Sea.
Thailand’s highest mountain, Doi Inthanon, rises among the northern mountains southwest of the city of Chiang Mai to a height of 2,595 m (8,514 ft).
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