Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Land
Thailand's odd shape is often likened to the head of an elephant, with the shaft of the trunk
being the Malay Peninsula and the head being the northern mountains. Starting at the
crown of the country, northern Thailand is dominated by the Dawna-Tenasserim mountain
range, a southeast-trending extension of the Himalayan mountains. Dropping into the cent-
ral region, the topography mellows into rice-producing plains fed by rivers that are as
revered as the national monarchy. Thailand's most exalted river is the Chao Phraya, which
is formed by the northern tributaries of Ping, Wang, Yom and Nan - a lineage as notable as
any aristocrat's. The country's early kingdoms emerged around the Chao Phraya basin, still
the seat of the monarchy today. The river delta is in cultivation for most of the year.
Tracing the contours of Thailand's northern and northeastern border is another celebrated
river: the Mekong. As the artery of Southeast Asia, the Mekong both physically separates
and culturally fuses Thailand with its neighbours. It is a workhorse river that has been
dammed for hydroelectric power, and swells and contracts based on the seasonal rains. In
the dry season, farmers plant vegetables in the muddy floodplain, harvesting their crops be-
fore the river reclaims its territory.
The landscape of Thailand's northeastern border is occupied by the arid Khorat Plateau
rising some 300m above the central plain. This is a hardscrabble land where the rains are
meagre, the soil is anaemic and the red dust stains as stubbornly as the betel nut chewed by
the ageing grandmothers.
The kingdom's eastern rivers dump their waters into the Gulf of Thailand, a shallow
basin off the neighbouring South China Sea. The warm, gentle gulf is an ideal cultivation
ground for coral reefs. Sliding further south is the Malay Peninsula, a long trunklike land-
mass. On the western side is the Andaman Sea, a splendid tropical setting of stunning blue
waters and dramatic limestone islands. Onshore, the peninsula is dominated by some final
remaining stands of rainforest and ever-expanding rubber and palm-oil plantations.
The Mekong River rivals the Amazon River in terms of biodiversity, and shelters endangered and newly
discovered species, such as the Khorat big-mouthed frog, which uses fangs to catch prey.
