Gulf of Thailand

Gulf of Thailand, อ่าวไทย, RTGS: Ao Thai, also known in to Malays as Teluk Siam literally meant Gulf of Siam, is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.

The Gulf of Thailand is bordered by Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. The gulf covers roughly 320,000 km². 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 Malaysian coast. At the height of the last ice age the Gulf of Thailand did not exist, due to the lower sea level, the location being part of the Chao Phraya river valley.

The Gulf of Thailand is relatively shallow: its 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 low in salinity (3.05-3.25%) and rich in sediments. Only at the greater depths does water with a higher salinity (3.4%) flow into the gulf from the South China sea 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), Mae Klong and Bang Pakong Rivers at the Bay of Bangkok, and to a lesser degree the Tapi River into Bandon Bay in the southwest of the gulf.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand as "A line running from the Western extreme of Cambodia or Camau Point (8°36'N) [Note: this point is actually in Vietnam] to the Northern extreme of the point on the East side of the estuary of the Kelantan River (6°14′N 102°15′E)".

Tourism

The Gulf of Thailand harbours many coral reefs, and thus several diving resorts. Due to the tropical warmth of the water, it is popular with 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, Hua Hin, Ko Samet and Ko Chang.

Ko Tao is a center of the diving tourism.

Territorial disputes

There are territorial disputes in the area between Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Malaysia and Thailand in particular 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 Siam concerns mainly the island of Phú Quốc, which is located off the Cambodian coast. Cambodia also claims 48,000 km2 of shelf area.

Ceram Sea

Ceram Sea or Seram Sea (Indonesian = Laut Seram) is one of several small seas between the scattered islands of Indonesia. It is a section of the Pacific Ocean with an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometers located between Buru and Seram, which are two of the islands once called the South Moluccas. These islands are the native habitat of plants long coveted for their use as spices, such as nutmeg, cloves, and black peppercorns, and the seas surrounding them were busy shipping routes. The Ceram Sea is also the habitat of several species of tropical goby and many other fish. Like many other small Indonesian seas, the Ceram Sea is rocky and very tectonically active.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defines the Ceram Sea as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago. The IHO defines its limits as follows:

On the North and Northeast. A line from Tanjong Dehekolano, the Eastern extreme of the Soela Sula Islands to the Western extreme of Obi Major, along its Southern coast to Tanjong Seranmaloleo its Eastern extreme, thence through Tobalai, Kekek, Pisang and Kofiau Islands to Tanjong Sele (1°26′S 130°55′E), the Western point of New Guinea, down the coast to Karoefa (3°51.5′S 133°27′E).

On the Southeast. A line from Karoefa, New Guinea, to the Southeastern extreme of Adi Island, thence to Tg. Borang, the Northern point of Noehoe Tjoet [Kai Besar] (5°17′S 133°09′E).

On the Southwest and South. From the Northern point of Noehoe Tjoet (Groot Kai) through the Watoebela and Gorong Islands to the Southeastern extreme of Ceram, along its Northern shore to Tanjong Tandoeroe Besar, the Northwest point, thence a line to Tanjong Batoe Noeham, the Northern extreme of Boeroe [Buru], and along the coast to Tanjong Palpetoe, the Northwest point of the Island.

On the West. A line from Tanjong Palpetoe to Tanjong Waka, the Southern point of Sanana, through this island to its Northern point, thence across the Mangoli Strait to the South coast of Mangoli (Soela Islands) in [1°56′S 125°55′E].