The Tha Chin River (, , ) is a

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurc ...

of the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya River is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Etymology Written evidence of the river being referred to by the ...

, in

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 ...

. It splits in the province of Chai Nat and then flows west from the Chao Phraya through the central plains, until it empties into the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

Samut Sakhon province Samut Sakhon (, ) is one of the central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand, located along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. In 2024, it had a population of 590,867, and an area of 866 km², making it the 43rd most populated province whilst b ...

Regional names

The Tha Chin river has many regional names. After it splits from

Chai Nat Chai Nat (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, capital of Chai Nat province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' tambon Nai Mueang and parts of Ban Kluai, Tha Chai and Khao Tha Phra, all in Mueang Chai Nat district. As of 2006 i ...

, it is called Makham Thao River or Khlong Makham Thao; while passing

Suphan Buri Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...

it is the Suphan River; while passing

Nakhon Pathom Nakhon Pathom (, ) is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in central Thailand, the former capital of Nakhon Pathom province. One of the most important landmarks is the giant Phra Pathommachedi. The city is also home to Thailand's only Bhikkhuni temple W ...

it becomes the Nakhon Chai Si River. Only near its mouth at

Samut Sakhon Samut Sakhon (, , is a city in Thailand; it is the capital of Samut Sakhon province. It is also part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Toponymy Samut Sakhon was formerly called Tha Chin (Chinese Pier) probably because, in the old days, it had ...

does it become the Tha Chin River, named after the former name of Samut Sakhon. The name Tha Chin is the convention used in most scientific documents. The word ''"Tha Chin"'' literally translated as "pier of Chinese", owing in the past more than 1,000 years ago, the area where the Tha Chin river flowed through today in Samut Sakhon Province. It was the residence of a large number of

Chinese people The Chinese people, or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with Greater China, China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by ...

. And they still have their heirs to this day. Therefore, the area where the Tha Chin river flows through Samut Sakhon which is the destination, it is also known by the

Teochew dialect Teochew, also known as Swatow or Teo-Swa, is a Southern Min language spoken by the Teochew people in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and by their diaspora around the world. It is sometimes referred to as ''Chiuchow'', its Cantonese ...

''"Leng Kia Chu"'' ( zh, 龍仔厝;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''lóng zǐ cuò''), which means "home of the descendants of the dragon".

Tributaries

Tributaries of the Tha Chin include Huai Krasiao, Huai Mae Thawip,

Khlong Chorakhe Sam Phan Khlong Chorakhe Sam Phan (, ), also called Maenam Chorakhe Sam Phan or Lam Chorakhe Sam Phan, is a watercourse in the provinces of Kanchanaburi and Suphan Buri, Thailand. It is a tributary of the Tha Chin River. Its name translates roughly as "th ...

, and Khlong Bang Len.

Tha Chin basin

The Tha Chin drains a total area of .Basins of Thailand
/ref> The Tha Chin Basin is part of the Chao Phraya Watershed.

Transportation in the past

In the past, there used to be passenger boats running back and forth on the Tha Chin River from Suphan Buri to Tha Tian Pier in Bangkok. From time to time, passengers will disembark at Wat Ngiu Rai Railway Station to travel by train to Bangkok. The passenger boat business was owned by the private company Suphan Steam Packet Company. Later, when land travel developed and became more convenient. Therefore, water transportation was sluggish. The passenger navigation business on the Tha Chin River therefore ceased in the early 1960s.

Health of the river

The Thai Pollution Control Department (PCD) has reported that the water quality of rivers flowing into the upper Gulf of Thailand has seriously deteriorated in the past decade. The department found the Tha Chin estuary contains bacteria and nutrient pollution from

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

, and

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

. Nutrient pollution causes algae to grow faster than ecosystems can handle, harming water quality, food resources for aquatic animals, and marine habitats. It also decreases the oxygen that fish need to survive. PCD rated water quality in the river in 2015 as "poor". The PCD findings indicated large amounts of wastewater were discharged into the river from households, industry, and agriculture.

References

Rivers of Thailand Chao Phraya River Gulf of Thailand {{Thailand-river-stub