Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus.
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Southern Thailand is located on the Malay Peninsula, with an area around 70,713 km², bounded to the north by Kra Isthmus as the narrowest part of the peninsula. The western part has steeper coasts, while on the east side river plains dominate. The largest river of the south is the Tapi in Surat Thani , which together with the Phum Duang in Surat Thani drains more than 8,000 km², more than 10% of the total area of Southern Thailand. Smaller rivers include the Pattani, Saiburi, Krabi and the Trang. The biggest lake of the south is the Songkhla lake (1,040 km² altogether), the largest artificial lake is the Chiao Lan (Ratchaprapha dam) with 165 km² within the Khao Sok national park in Surat Thani. Surat Thani
Running through the middle of the peninsula are several mountain chains, with the highest elevation at the 1835 m high Khao Luang in the Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. Ranging from the Kra Isthmus till the Phuket island is the Phuket chain, which connects to the Tanao Si Mountain Range further north. Almost parallel to the Phuket chain but 100 km to the east is the Nakhon Si Thammarat or Banthat chain, which begins with the Samui island Ko Pha Ngan Ko Tao in Surat Thani and ends at the Malaysian border at the Ko Ta Ru Tao archipelago. The border to Malaysia is formed by the Sankalakhiri range, sometimes subdivided into the Pattani, Taluban and Songkhla chain. At the border to Malaysia begins the Titiwangsa chain.
The limestone of the western coast has been eroded into many steep singular hills. Those parts submerged by the rising sea after the last ice age now form the many islands, like the well known Phi Phi Islands. Also quite famous is the so-called James Bond Island in the Phang Nga Bay, which featured in the movie The Man with the Golden Gun.
The Malay peninsula was settled since prehistoric times. Archeological remains were found in several caves, some used for dwellings, other as burial sites as well. The oldest remains were found in Lang Rongrien cave dating 38,000 to 27,000 years before present, and in the contemporary Moh Khiew cave.
In the first millennium Chinese chronicles mention several coastal cities or city-states, however they don't give exact geographical location, so the identification of these cities with the later historical cities is difficult. The most important of these states were Langkasuka, usually considered a precursor of the Pattani kingdom; Tambralinga, probably the precursor of the Nakhon Si Thammarat kingdom, or P'an-p'an in Phunphin district Surat Thani, probably located at the Bandon Bay Tapi River. The cities were highly influenced by Indian culture, and have adopted Brahman or Buddhist religion. When Srivijaya in Chaiya extended its sphere of influence, those cities became tributary states of Srivijaya.The city Chaiya in Surat Thani Province contains several ruins from Srivijaya times, and was probably a regional capital of the kingdom. Some Thai historians even claim that it was the capital of the kingdom itself for some time, but this is generally disputed.
After Srivijaya lost its influence, Nakhon Si Thammarat became the dominant kingdom of the area. During the rule of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great of Sukhothai, Thai influence first reached Nakhon Si Thammarat. According to the Ramkhamhaeng inscription Nakhon was even a tributary state of Sukhothai. During most of the later history Nakhon became a tributary of Ayutthaya.
The deep south belonged to the Malay sultanates of Pattani and Kedah, while the northernmost part of the peninsula was under direct control of Bangkok.
During the thesaphiban reforms at the end of the 19th century, both Nakhon Si Thammarat as well as Pattani were finally incorporated into the central state. The area was subdivided into 5 monthon, which were installed to control the city states (mueang). Minor mueang were merged into larger ones, thus forming the present 14 provinces. With the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 the boundary to Malaysia was fixed. Kedah came under British control, while Pattani stayed with Siam.
Usually the south is identified with the 14 provinces (Nov 1, 2008)
| Nr. | Name | Thai | Area | Inh. | Density | GPP(THB)(2007) | GPP/capita(2007) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chumphon | ชุมพร | 6,009.00 | 485,713 | 80.83 | 45,580 | 92,192 |
| 2. | Krabi | กระบี่ | 4,708.00 | 417,735 | 88.73 | 41,383 | 108,629 |
| 3. | Nakhon Si Thammarat | นครศรีธรรมราช | 9,942.50 | 1,512,249 | 152.10 | 123,614 | 73,960 |
| 4. | Narathiwat | นราธิวาส | 4,475.00 | 718,724 | 160.61 | 46,468 | 62,625 |
| 5. | Pattani | ปัตตานี | 1,940.40 | 641,187 | 330.44 | 39,534 | 59,618 |
| 6. | Phang Nga | พังงา | 4,170.00 | 250,079 | 59.97 | 29,828 | 114,988 |
| 7. | Phatthalung | พัทลุง | 3,423.50 | 504,470 | 147.36 | 33,259 | 60,677 |
| 8. | Phuket | ภูเก็ต | 543.00 | 325,586 | 599.61 | 62,055 | 214,621 |
| 9. | Ranong | ระนอง | 3,298.00 | 191,744 | 58.14 | 17,309 | 94,640 |
| 10. | Satun | สตูล | 2,479.00 | 287,866 | 116.12 | 27,217 | 97,614 |
| 11. | Songkhla | สงขลา | 7,393.90 | 1,329,635 | 179.69 | 168,611 | 119,620 |
| 12. | Surat Thani | สุราษฎร์ธานี | 12,891.50 | 981,595 | 76.14 | 122,398 | 125,651 |
| 13. | Trang | ตรัง | 4,917.50 | 614,222 | 124.91 | 62,912 | 94,863 |
| 14. | Yala | ยะลา | 4,521.10 | 474,559 | 104.97 | 39,198 | 84,614 |
Southern Thailand has around 8.734 million inhabitants and its population density is around 126 inh/km².
| Nr. | Name | Inh. | Metropolitan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hat Yai | 157,359 | 801,747 in Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area Songkla Province. |
| 2. | Surat Thani | 126,280 | 358,000 in Surat Thani Metropolitan Area |
| 3. | Nakhon Si Thammarat | 108,139 | 280,000 in Amphoe Mueang Nakhon Si Thammarat. |
| 4. | Phuket | 75,971 | 325,600 on Phuket Metropolitan Area. |
| 5. | Songkhla | 73,835 | 801,747 in Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area. |
| 6. | Yala | 63,640 | |
| 7. | Trang | 61,067 | |
| 8. | Ko Samui | 51,044 | Koh Samui Island Surat Thani Province. |
| 9. | Ko Hong | 43,989 | 801,747 in Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area. |
| 10. | Pattani | 43,255 |
Main article GPP of Southern Thailand
In 2007, Southern Thailand had the GRP (Gross Regional Product) about 859,325 million Baht (25,274.06 million USD). The regional economic hubs of the region are Hat Yai City for Lower Southern, Surat Thani City for Upper Southern and Phuket City for Westcoast Southern.
Southern Thailand is connected with Bangkok, the economic center of Thailand, by railway as well as highway. Also several regional airports are located at the larger towns. The main transportation hub of all southern Thailand is Hat Yai, which developed from a small village to the current city within few decades.
Phetkasem Road is the longest road in Thailand, running from Bangkok along the Kra Isthmus and then at the western coast of the peninsula. From Trang it crosses over to the eastern coast to Hat Yai, and then ends at the Malaysian border.
Two Asian highways run through southern Thailand. Asian highway 2 runs mostly parallel to the railroad all the way from Bangkok. It crosses to Malaysia at Sadao, and continues on the western part of the peninsula. Asian highway 18 begins in Hat Yai and runs south along the eastern coast, crossing to Malaysia at Sungai Kolok.
The southern railway also connects Bangkok to Hat Yai, and continues from there to Su-ngai Kolok. There are a branch from Ban Thung Phoe Junction to Kirirat Nikhom, two smaller branches of the railway run from Thung Song to Trang and Nakhon Si Thammarat, and from Hat Yai Junction to Malaysia and Singapore.
Southern Thailand has 5 international airports and 6 domestic airports named as follows.