The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

is the narrowest part of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in

Southern Thailand Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus. Geography Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounde ...

. The isthmus is bordered to the west by the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated fro ...

and to the east by the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in le ...

. The Kra Isthmus marks the boundary between two sections of the mountain chain which runs from

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

through the Malay peninsula. The southern part is the Phuket Range, which is a continuation of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range ( my, တနင်္သာရီ တောင်တန်း, ; th, ทิวเขาตะนาวศรี, , ; ms, Banjaran Tanah Seri/Banjaran Tenang Sari) is the geographical name of a r ...

, extending further northwards for over beyond the Three Pagodas Pass. The Kra Isthmus is in the Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

. Dipterocarps are the dominant trees in the ecoregion.

Pacific War

On 8 December 1941 local time, the

Imperial Japanese army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

landed in

Songkhla Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora ( Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of B ...

, invading Thailand. Because of the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific ...

, this actually occurred hours before the 7 December (Hawaii time)

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, making it the first major action of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

. The Japanese forces then moved south towards

Perlis Perlis, ( Northern Malay: ''Peghelih''), also known by its honorific title Perlis Indera Kayangan, is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. Located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it borders the Thai provinces ...

and

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

as part of the

Malayan campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles betwe ...

, which culminated in the capture of Singapore.

Kra Canal

The

Thai Canal The Thai Canal, also known as Kra Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal, refers to proposals for a canal that would connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Such a canal would significantly reduce tr ...

is a proposal to join the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea. It was originally envisioned as crossing the isthmus.

References

{{Authority control Isthmuses of Asia Landforms of Thailand Malay Peninsula Andaman Sea Gulf of Thailand Southern Thailand Tanintharyi Region Landforms of Myanmar