Kra Isthmus | |
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  Location in Thailand | |
| Coordinates:10°11′00″N98°53′00″E / 10.18333°N 98.88333°E /10.18333; 98.88333 | |
| Location | Ranong andChumphon,Thailand |
TheKra Isthmus (Thai:คอคอดกระ,pronounced[kʰɔ̄ːkʰɔ̂ːtkràʔ];Malay:Segenting Kra), also called theIsthmus of Kra, inThailand is the narrowest part of theMalay Peninsula.[1] The western part of the isthmus belongs toRanong Province and the eastern part toChumphon Province, both inSouthern Thailand. At its narrowest point, between the Thai cities ofKra Buri andChumphon, the coastal distance between theAndaman Sea and theGulf of Thailand is only 44 km (27 mi).[2]
The Kra Isthmus marks the boundary between two sections of the mountain chain which runs fromTibet through the Malay peninsula. The southern part is thePhuket Range, which is a continuation of theTenasserim Hills, extending further northwards for over 400 km (250 mi) beyond theThree Pagodas Pass.[3]
The Kra Isthmus is in theTenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forestsecoregion.Dipterocarps are the dominant trees in the ecoregion.[4]
On 8 December 1941 local time, theImperial Japanese army landed inSongkhla,invading Thailand. Because of theInternational Date Line, this actually occurred hours before the 7 December (Hawaii time)attack on Pearl Harbor, making it the first major action of thePacific War. Japanese forces then moved south towardsPerlis andPenang as part of theMalayan campaign, which culminated in thecapture of Singapore.[5]
TheThai Canal is a long-standing proposal to join the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea.[6] Various routes were proposed[7] to shortcut voyages from India to China, and avoiding theStrait of Malacca. The northernmost route was championed by Edward O'Riley (1821-1856), a government official in Burma, andHenry Wise, in England, when it was the subject of a report to theBritish Parliament in 1859 by ConsulRobert Schomburk from Bangkok.[8] A later crossing is related by Loftus.[9]
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