Gulf of Thailand

The Gulf of Thailand is located in the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean), surrounded by the countries Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The north tip of the Gulf is at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, near Bangkok. It covers roughly 320,000 km².

The Gulf of Thailand is relatively shallow, the 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 like the Chao Phraya or Mekong make the Gulf lower in salinity and also rich in sediments.

Due to the tropical warmth of the water the Gulf of Thailand harbours many coral reefs, and thus many diving resorts. Most popular is the island Koh Samui[?] in the south of Thailand.

The gulf also contains some oil and natural gas resources.