An overview of the geography of Thailand

20 May 2010

• Geographical location – Thailand lies in south-east Asia, on the Indochina Peninsula. It is surrounded by the Andaman Sea to the south west and the Gulf of Thailand to the south east. The shape of Thailand resembles the head of an elephant and the Thai people themselves quite often call it “the country of the elephant”.

Thailand | The area of Thailand is 514 000 km2 (by eustaquio )

• The area of the country – totals 514 000 km2 (approximately equivalent to France), out of which the sea zone is 2 230 km2
• Length of land borders – 4 863 (total); with Burma – 1800 km, Cambodia – 803 km, Laos – 1754, Malaysia - 506
• Coastline – over 2 600 km
• Northernmost point of Thailand – latitude 20º54’N, longitude 99º86’E
• Southernmost point – latitude 5 º 68' N, longitude 101 º 13' E
• Westernmost point – latitude 18 º 38' N, longitude 97 º 49' E
• Easternmost point – 1 latitude 6 º 68' N, longitude 105 º 67' E

Thailand | The length of the coastline is over 2 600 km (by mattmangum )

• Landform features - Chao Phraya (Menam) Lowland[s] (the central part of the country), Khorat Plateau (the north east), longitudinal mountain ranges (in the north-western and western regions)
• Highest peaks – Doi Inthanon (2 565 m - but different sources may propose other heights - between 2547 m and 2600 m), Doi Pha Ham Pok (2 297 m), Doi Luang (2 195 m.), Doi Suthep (2 185 m), and Doi Pha Cho (2 024 m)
• Vegetation – the main formations are forests - wet monsoon forests (the west), wet equatorial (the Malay Peninsula), and mangrove (the coast). Dry areas feature savannahs (the Khorat Plateau)