The Phuket Range (, ''Thio Khao Phuket'', ) is a subrange of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

in the

Kra Isthmus The Kra Isthmus (, ; ), also called the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailan ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Geography

The Phuket Range is a continuation of the greater Tenasserim range, forming one of the southern sections of the central Indo-Malay cordillera, the mountain chain which runs from

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

through the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located 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 area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

extending southwards for over 200 km. The Nakhon Si Thammarat Range begins 60 km to the east of the southern part of the Phuket Range. Between the ranges there are isolated peaks rising from the lowlands, the highest of which is the 1,350 m high Khao Phanom Bencha near Krabi.Peninsular Thailand
/ref> The highest elevation is Khao Langkha Tuek with an elevation of 1395 m. As the hills raise directly from the western coast there are no notable rivers west of the ridge. To the east the largest rivers are the Phum Duang River and the Lang Suan River. The largest lake within the mountains is the Chiao Lan (Ratchaprapha dam) at 165 km², an artificial lake within the

Khao Sok National Park Khao Sok National Park (, ) is in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Its area is 461,712 rai ~ , and it includes the Cheow Lan Lake contained by the Ratchaprapha Dam. The park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern Thailand and is a ...

. The mountains mostly consist of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, which leads to the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

geography of steep hills. The hills west of the ridge contain several

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

mines, mostly exhausted.

Protection

The range is in the Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

. Most of the mountains are protected in various

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s and other protected areas. These are (from the south) Si Phang-nga NP, Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary, Khlong Phanom NP, Khao Sok NP, Khlong Yan Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaeng Krung NP, Khlong Nakha Wildlife Sanctuary and Namtok Ngao NP (formerly named Khlong Phrao NP).

References

External links

Geography of the Kra river area
(Thai) Tenasserim Hills Mountain ranges of Thailand Malay Peninsula Kra Isthmus Southern Thailand {{Thailand-geo-stub