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46-623: The modern Thai name of the gulf is Ao Thai ( Thai : อ่าวไทย , [ʔàːw tʰāj] , 'Thai Gulf') and "Gulf of Thailand" has been adopted as the official name of the body by the International Hydrographic Organization . Its name in Malay is "Gulf of Siam", Teluk Siam or in Jawi script : تلوق سيم ‎ , and in Khmer : ឈូងសមុទ្រសៀម , Chhoung Samut Siem . In Thai, the gulf

92-411: A dialect continuum . Thai language is spoken by over 69 million people (2020). Moreover, most Thais in the northern (Lanna) and the northeastern (Isan) parts of the country today are bilingual speakers of Central Thai and their respective regional dialects because Central Thai is the language of television, education, news reporting, and all forms of media. A recent research found that the speakers of

138-551: A second language among the country's minority ethnic groups from the mid-late Ayutthaya period onward. Ethnic minorities today are predominantly bilingual, speaking Thai alongside their native language or dialect. Standard Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being Northern Thai , Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form

184-533: A four-way distinction among stops and affricates . The maximal four-way occurred in labials ( /p pʰ b ʔb/ ) and denti-alveolars ( /t tʰ d ʔd/ ); the three-way distinction among velars ( /k kʰ ɡ/ ) and palatals ( /tɕ tɕʰ dʑ/ ), with the glottalized member of each set apparently missing. The major change between old and modern Thai was due to voicing distinction losses and the concomitant tone split . This may have happened between about 1300 and 1600 CE, possibly occurring at different times in different parts of

230-720: A higher salinity (3.4 percent) flow into the gulf from the South China Sea . It fills the central depression below a depth of 50 metres (160 ft). The main rivers which empty into the gulf are the Chao Phraya, including its distributary Tha Chin River , the Mae Klong , and Bang Pakong rivers at the Bay of Bangkok , and to a lesser degree the Tapi River flowing into Bandon Bay in the southwest of

276-509: A pipeline leak resulted in an oil slick that went on to coat a beach on the nearby Ka Samet island. In late January 2022, a leak in the pipeline operated by the Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Ltd caused a spill of 20 to 50 tonnes across 47 km of water, with some oil reaching the coast of Rayong province 20 km away. The gulf's many coral reefs have made it attractive to divers. The tropical warmth of

322-525: A syllable that formerly began with a voiceless consonant (including glottalized stops). An additional complication is that formerly voiceless unaspirated stops/affricates (original /p t k tɕ ʔb ʔd/ ) also caused original tone 1 to lower, but had no such effect on original tones 2 or 3. The above consonant mergers and tone splits account for the complex relationship between spelling and sound in modern Thai. Modern "low"-class consonants were voiced in Old Thai, and

368-562: Is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai language family spoken by the Central Thai , Mon , Lao Wiang , Phuan people in Central Thailand and the vast majority of Thai Chinese enclaves throughout the country. It is the sole official language of Thailand . Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary

414-521: Is a major river in Kelantan , Malaysia . Its drainage basin is about 11,900 km² in northeast Malaysia, including part of the Taman Negara , and flows northwards into the South China Sea . The rainfall over the area varies between 0 mm in the dry season (March–May) to 1,750 mm in the monsoon season (November–January). The average runoff from the area is about 500 m³/s. The description of

460-525: Is bordered by Cambodia , Thailand , Malaysia , and Vietnam . It occupies a seabed area of 304,000 km from 6° N to 13°30' N latitude and 99°E to 104° E longitude. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River . The southern boundary of the gulf is defined by a line from Cape Bai Bung in southern Vietnam (just south of the mouth of the Mekong River ) to

506-523: Is derived from or borrowed from Pali , Sanskrit , Mon and Old Khmer . It is a tonal and analytic language . Thai has a complex orthography and system of relational markers . Spoken Thai, depending on standard sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender, class, spatial proximity, and the urban/rural divide, is partly mutually intelligible with Lao , Isan , and some fellow Thai topolects . These languages are written with slightly different scripts, but are linguistically similar and effectively form

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552-562: Is famed for. The mouth of the Kelantan River is also infamous for being the site where Japanese troops first landed during their invasion of Malaya in December 1941. The Kelantan River regularly overspills its banks during the months of November to February because of the northeast monsoon season. The estimate flood volume under the 50 year flood condition at Kusial Bridge is about 6 billion m . Severe flooding occurred in 1926 and 1967. In

598-499: Is historically known as Ao Sayam ( Thai : อ่าวสยาม ). In Vietnamese it is known as Vịnh Thái Lan . It is generally identified with the Great Gulf ( Latin : Magnus Sinus ) known to Greek , Roman , Arab , Persian , and Renaissance cartographers before the influx of Portuguese explorers removed the phantom Dragon Tail peninsula from European world maps in the 16th century. The Gulf of Thailand , historically known as

644-681: Is subject to several territorial disputes. Malaysia and Thailand have chosen to jointly develop the disputed areas, which include the islands of Ko Kra and Ko Losin . A long-standing dispute between Cambodia and Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand concerns mainly the island of Phú Quốc or Koh Tral in Khmer, which is off the Cambodian coast. Cambodia also claims 48,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) of shelf area . Thai language Thai , or Central Thai (historically Siamese ; Thai: ภาษาไทย ),

690-513: The Gulf of Siam , derives its name from the historical kingdom of Siam , the former name of modern-day Thailand. The term "Gulf of Siam" was widely used in Western cartography and geographical references up until the mid-20th century, reflecting the colonial-era practice of naming regions based on the prevalent local political entities at the time. "Siam" itself is an exonym , believed to have origins in

736-459: The Northern Thai language (also known as Phasa Mueang or Kham Mueang) have become so few, as most people in northern Thailand now invariably speak Standard Thai, so that they are now using mostly Central Thai words and only seasoning their speech with the "Kham Mueang" accent. Standard Thai is based on the register of the educated classes by Central Thai and ethnic minorities in the area along

782-474: The Sanskrit word "Syama," which means "dark" or "brown," referring to the skin tone of the region's inhabitants. The term "Siam" was used internationally until 1939, when the country officially changed its name to Thailand. Following this renaming, "Gulf of Thailand" gradually became the more commonly used term, especially in official contexts, although "Gulf of Siam" is still occasionally used. The Gulf of Thailand

828-458: The Southwestern branch of Tai languages . The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family , which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border. Standard Thai is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout Thailand. The standard is based on

874-499: The Khmer system first before the Thai borrowed. Old Thai had a three-way tone distinction on "live syllables" (those not ending in a stop), with no possible distinction on "dead syllables" (those ending in a stop, i.e. either /p/, /t/, /k/ or the glottal stop that automatically closes syllables otherwise ending in a short vowel). There was a two-way voiced vs. voiceless distinction among all fricative and sonorant consonants, and up to

920-663: The Nenggiri River, the river's left tributary, show evidence of habitation going back to 9000 years ago, such as Gua Cha near Kuala Betis. Lower down, Malay villages dot the banks of the river which passes through one of the most densely populated floodplains in Peninsular Malaysia whose paddy fields produce around 12% of the Malaysian rice production. The river flows past seven important towns, from south to north: Kuala Krai , Tanah Merah , Machang , Pasir Mas , Tumpat ,

966-619: The River Betis (first 20 miles from the source), then the River Nenggiri, then the River Galas, and finally the Kelantan River. The river's tributaries rise in the forested mountains in the Gua Musang region in southern Kelantan, where many Orang Asli tribes live. The area is known for its karst topography , dotted with mogotes with numerous caves beneath them. Some cave systems along

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1012-484: The Thai-speaking area. All voiced–voiceless pairs of consonants lost the voicing distinction: However, in the process of these mergers, the former distinction of voice was transferred into a new set of tonal distinctions. In essence, every tone in Old Thai split into two new tones, with a lower-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiced consonant, and a higher-pitched tone corresponding to

1058-458: The central depression of the gulf is characterised by the presence of elongated mounds and ridges arranged parallel to the axis of the basin . This morphology, widespread within the gulf in water depths exceeding 50 m, covers an area of tens of thousands of square kilometres. It reflects an interaction between sediment dewatering and the erosional activity of the present-day bottom currents . The sediment dewatering and fluid seepage result in

1104-405: The coast of Chonburi Province showed high levels of microplastics , leading the authors to warn that, "Health risks are possible when people consume these contaminated marine organisms, particularly shellfish." Thailand's Pollution Control Department (PCD) estimates that plastic waste in the country is increasing at an annual rate of 12 percent, or around two million tonnes per year. In 2013,

1150-541: The dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai script . Hlai languages Kam-Sui languages Kra languages Be language Northern Tai languages Central Tai languages Khamti language Tai Lue language Shan language others Northern Thai language Thai language Southern Thai language Tai Yo language Phuthai language Lao language (PDR Lao, Isan language ) Thai has undergone various historical sound changes. Some of

1196-602: The endemic, critically endangered populations of cetaceans ( Eden's whales , newly described Omura's whales , Chinese white dolphins , and Irrawaddy dolphins showing unique feeding behaviors), and dugongs . It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon . Five species of the sea turtles have been found in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman sea coast, including olive ridley turtles, green turtles, hawksbill turtles, loggerhead turtles, and leatherback turtles. The area between Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam

1242-720: The erosion is attributable to the clearing of mangrove forests to make way for shrimp farms. In February 2017, a 10 kilometer-long patch of plastic refuse was found floating off Chumphon Province . Thailand is among the world's worst plastic polluters. More than half of "land-based plastic waste leakage" into the sea originates from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Thai Marine and Coastal Resources Department has noted that at least 300 sea animals on average—60 per cent of which are whales and dolphins—die from eating plastic fishing gear and trash each year. Filter feeding invertebrates tested off

1288-418: The formation of numerous small pits and pockmarks . The long-term erosion imposed by currents of stable orientation modifies pockmarks into long runnels and depressions, and ultimately leads to the formation of the large fields of elongated mounds and ridges, as well as the residual outliers of un-eroded mud and clay sheets. The larger islands in the gulf include: There are 75,590 rai of coral reef in

1334-627: The gulf, of which five percent are considered to be in fertile condition. In 2010 severe coral bleaching occurred at most reef sites in the country. Bleaching of reefs in the Andaman Sea was more severe and extensive than that in the Gulf of Thailand. In 2016, coral bleaching was detected at Ko Thalu and Ko Lueam in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province for the first time. Scientists have determined that bleaching starts when seawater temperature rises beyond 30 °C for more than three weeks. Given

1380-559: The gulf. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the gulf as "[a] line running from the Western extreme of Cambodia or Camau Point (8°36'N) to the Northern extreme of the point on the East side of the estuary of the Kelantan River ( 6°14′N 102°15′E  /  6.233°N 102.250°E  / 6.233; 102.250 )". The seabed morphology in

1426-515: The local patois as pronounced in Guangdong Ayutthaya , the old capital of Thailand from 1351 - 1767 A.D., was from the beginning a bilingual society, speaking Thai and Khmer . Bilingualism must have been strengthened and maintained for some time by the great number of Khmer-speaking captives the Thais took from Angkor Thom after their victories in 1369, 1388 and 1431. Gradually toward the end of

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1472-547: The most significant changes occurred during the evolution from Old Thai to modern Thai. The Thai writing system has an eight-century history and many of these changes, especially in consonants and tones, are evidenced in the modern orthography . According to a Chinese source, during the Ming dynasty , Yingya Shenglan (1405–1433), Ma Huan reported on the language of the Xiānluó (暹羅) or Ayutthaya Kingdom, saying that it somewhat resembled

1518-415: The period, a language shift took place. Khmer fell out of use. Both Thai and Khmer descendants whose great-grand parents or earlier ancestors were bilingual came to use only Thai. In the process of language shift, an abundance of Khmer elements were transferred into Thai and permeated all aspects of the language. Consequently, the Thai of the late Ayutthaya Period which later became Ratanakosin or Bangkok Thai,

1564-487: The prolonged period of temperatures up to 32 °C at Ko Thalu in Prachuap Khiri Khan, five to ten percent of corals in the area are already bleached. Coastal water monitoring results in 2015 from 202 sampling locations, collected twice annually, indicate that no Thai coastal waters were found to be in excellent condition. Sixteen percent of coastal water was of good quality, 72 percent was of fair quality, 9 percent

1610-564: The ring surrounding the Metropolis . In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages . Although most linguists classify these dialects as related but distinct languages, native speakers often identify them as regional variants or dialects of the "same" Thai language, or as "different kinds of Thai". As a dominant language in all aspects of society in Thailand, Thai initially saw gradual and later widespread adoption as

1656-532: The river is complicated by the local naming convention: instead of using the name Kelantan river from estuary to source, the name is only used for the section from the estuary to the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Galas River and the Lebir River, near the town of Kuala Krai . The same naming convention applies to these tributaries. Thus to describe the main river from source to mouth involves four names:

1702-484: The royal vocabulary according to their immediate environment. Thai and Pali, the latter from Theravada Buddhism, were added to the vocabulary. An investigation of the Ayutthaya Rajasap reveals that three languages, Thai, Khmer and Khmero-Indic were at work closely both in formulaic expressions and in normal discourse. In fact, Khmero-Indic may be classified in the same category as Khmer because Indic had been adapted to

1748-411: The state capital Kota Bharu , as well as Pengkalan Chepa , Towards the estuary the river forms a delta that spans the districts of Tumpat and Kota Bharu . The area around the actual estuary, known as Kuala Besar , is dotted with picturesque fishing villages, which are also well known for the production of batik (a local patterned material produced by waxing and dyeing cloth) for which Kelantan

1794-535: The terminology "low" reflects the lower tone variants that resulted. Modern "mid"-class consonants were voiceless unaspirated stops or affricates in Old Thai—precisely the class that triggered lowering in original tone 1 but not tones 2 or 3. Modern "high"-class consonants were the remaining voiceless consonants in Old Thai (voiceless fricatives, voiceless sonorants, voiceless aspirated stops). The three most common tone "marks" (the lack of any tone mark, as well as

1840-506: The three tones of Old Thai were split have since merged into five in standard Thai, with the lower variant of former tone 2 merging with the higher variant of former tone 3, becoming the modern "falling" tone. หม ม หน น, ณ หญ ญ หง ง ป ผ พ, ภ บ ฏ, ต ฐ, ถ ท, ธ ฎ, ด จ ฉ ช Kelantan River The Kelantan River ( Malay : Sungai Kelantan ) ( Jawi : سوڠاي كلنتن; Kelantanese dialect : Sunga Kelate )

1886-406: The town of Tumpat and Pengkalan Chepa on the Malaysian coast. The gulf is relatively shallow: its mean depth is 58 metres (190 ft) and the maximum depth is only 85 metres (279 ft). This makes water exchange slow, and the strong water inflow from the rivers reduces the level of salinity in the gulf (3.05–3.25 percent) and enriches the sediments . Only at greater depths does water with

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1932-423: The two marks termed mai ek and mai tho ) represent the three tones of Old Thai, and the complex relationship between tone mark and actual tone is due to the various tonal changes since then. Since the tone split, the tones have changed in actual representation to the point that the former relationship between lower and higher tonal variants has been completely obscured. Furthermore, the six tones that resulted after

1978-663: The water attracts many tourists. Some of the most important tourist destinations in the Gulf of Thailand are the islands of Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan in Surat Thani Province , Pattaya in Chonburi Province , Cha-am in Phetchaburi Province , Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province , and Ko Samet in Rayong Province . In recent years, the bay has become known for its whale watching activities, targeting

2024-449: Was a thorough mixture of Thai and Khmer. There were more Khmer words in use than Tai cognates. Khmer grammatical rules were used actively to coin new disyllabic and polysyllabic words and phrases. Khmer expressions, sayings, and proverbs were expressed in Thai through transference. Thais borrowed both the Royal vocabulary and rules to enlarge the vocabulary from Khmer. The Thais later developed

2070-693: Was of poor quality and 3 percent was of very poor quality. The quality of all coastal waters exhibited similar percentages — most were of fair quality — except for the Inner Gulf of Thailand, where the coastal water was poor to very poor. In comparison to coastal water quality as measured in 2014, water quality has deteriorated. Some gulf waters off Chachoengsao Province , Samut Sakhon Province , Samut Prakan Province , Bangkok, Rayong Province , Chonburi Province , Phetchaburi Province , Prachuap Khiri Khan Province , and Surat Thani Province were judged to have coastal waters in "poor" or "very poor" condition. Songkhla

2116-494: Was the only province on the gulf with coastal water rated "good" quality. Of Thailand's total marine catch, 41 percent is caught in the Gulf of Thailand and 19 percent in the Andaman Sea . Forty percent is caught in waters outside Thailand's EEZ . Thailand has 1,660 kilometres of coastline bordering the gulf. "Severe erosion", more than five metres of coastline loss per year, afflicts 670 kilometres of that total. At least some of

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