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The Gulf of Thailand (or Gulf of Siam) is a body of water that borders, but is not part of the South China Sea
South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea*south of China,*west of the Philippines,*north west of Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei,*north of Indonesia,...
 (Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
). The gulf is bordered by Cambodia
Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
, Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
 and Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok
Bay of Bangkok

The Bay of Bangkok is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Thailand, roughly extending from Hua Hin to the west and Sattahip to the east. Three of the major rivers of central Thailand empty into the bay - the Chao Phraya River and its distributary Tha Chin River, the Mae Klong and the Bang Pa Kong River....
 at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River
Chao Phraya River

The Chao Phraya is a major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial river plain marking the mainland of the country. It runs through Bangkok, the capital of Thailand....
, near Bangkok
Bangkok

The city of Bangkok is the Capital , largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai language as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom and came to the forefront of Thailand when it was given the status as the...
. The gulf covers roughly 320,000 kmē.






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Locationgulfofthailand
The Gulf of Thailand (or Gulf of Siam) is a body of water that borders, but is not part of the South China Sea
South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea*south of China,*west of the Philippines,*north west of Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei,*north of Indonesia,...
 (Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
). The gulf is bordered by Cambodia
Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
, Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
 and Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok
Bay of Bangkok

The Bay of Bangkok is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Thailand, roughly extending from Hua Hin to the west and Sattahip to the east. Three of the major rivers of central Thailand empty into the bay - the Chao Phraya River and its distributary Tha Chin River, the Mae Klong and the Bang Pa Kong River....
 at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River
Chao Phraya River

The Chao Phraya is a major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial river plain marking the mainland of the country. It runs through Bangkok, the capital of Thailand....
, near Bangkok
Bangkok

The city of Bangkok is the Capital , largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai language as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom and came to the forefront of Thailand when it was given the status as the...
. The gulf covers roughly 320,000 kmē. The boundary of the gulf is defined by the line from Cape Bai Bung
Ca Mau Province

C? Mau is a Provinces of Vietnam of Vietnam, named after Ca Mau . It is located in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam, and is the southernmost of Vietnam's 59 provinces....
 in southern Vietnam (just south of the mouth of the Mekong
Mekong

The Mekong River is one of the world?s major rivers. It is the 12th-longest river in the world, and 7th longest in Asia. . Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of ....
 river) to the city Kota Baru on the Malayian coast. At the height of the last ice age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
 the Gulf of Thailand did not exist, due to the lower sea level, the location being part of the Chao Phraya river valley.

Geography

The gulf is relatively shallow: the mean depth is 45 m
Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
, and the maximum depth only 80 m. This makes water exchange slow, and the strong water inflow from the rivers make the Gulf low in salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 (3.05-3.25%) and rich in sediment
Sediment

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
s. Only at the greater depths does water with a higher salinity (3.4%) flow into the gulf from the South China sea
South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea*south of China,*west of the Philippines,*north west of Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei,*north of Indonesia,...
 and fills the central depression below a depth of 50 m. The main rivers which empty into the gulf are the Chao Phraya (including its distributary Tha Chin River
Tha Chin River

The Tha Chin river is a distributary of the Chao Phraya river, Thailand. It splits near the town Chainat and then flows westerly from the Chao Phraya through the central plain, until it mouths into the Gulf of Thailand at the town Samut Sakhon....
), Mae Klong
Mae Klong

The Mae Klong is a river in western Thailand. The river begins at the confluence of the Khwae Noi River or Kwai Sai Yoke and the Khwae Yai River or Kwai Si Sawasdi in Kanchanaburi, pass Ratchaburi Province and empties into the Gulf of Thailand in Samut Songkhram....
 and Bang Pakong Rivers at the Bay of Bangkok
Bay of Bangkok

The Bay of Bangkok is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Thailand, roughly extending from Hua Hin to the west and Sattahip to the east. Three of the major rivers of central Thailand empty into the bay - the Chao Phraya River and its distributary Tha Chin River, the Mae Klong and the Bang Pa Kong River....
, and to a lesser degree the Tapi River
Tapi River, Thailand

The Tapi river is the longest river in southern Thailand. The river originates at the Khao Luang, and has a wide estuary into the Gulf of Thailand at Bandon Bay near the town of Surat Thani....
 into Bandon Bay
Bandon Bay

Bandon Bay is a bay in the Gulf of Thailand in the Surat Thani Province, extending from the Sui cape in Amphoe Chaiya in the northwest to the Amphoe Kanchanadit to the east....
 in the southwest of the gulf.

Due to the tropical warmth of the water, the Gulf of Thailand harbours many coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 reefs, and thus several diving resorts. Most popular for tourism is the island Ko Samui
Ko Samui

Ko Samui island of Surat Thani Province , or often, simply Samui as it is referred to by locals, is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus in Thailand, close to the mainland Surat Thani town....
 in the Surat Thani province
Surat Thani Province

Surat Thani is the largest of the Southern Thailand Provinces of Thailand of Thailand, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Surat Thani means City of Good People, the title given to the city by King Vajiravudh ....
, Pattaya Chonburi province, while Ko Tao
Ko Tao

Ko Tao is an island in Thailand located near the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. It covers an area of about 21 km?. Administratively it forms a tambon within the district Ko Pha Ngan of Surat Thani Province....
 is the center of the diving tourism.

Dispute

There is a territorial dispute in the area between Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Malaysia and Thailand in particular have chosen to jointly develop the disputed areas.