The Chao Phraya ( or ; th,
à¹à¸¡à¹ˆà¸™à¹‰à¸³à¹€à¸ˆà¹‰à¸²à¸žà¸£à¸°à¸¢à¸², , or ) is the major river in Thailand,
with its low
alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...
forming the centre of the country. It flows through
Bangkok and then into 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 l ...
.
Etymology
On many old European maps, the river is named the ''Mae Nam'' (Thai:
à¹à¸¡à¹ˆà¸™à¹‰à¸³), the Thai word for "river" (literally, "motherly water").
James McCarthy,
F.R.G.S.
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
, who served as Director-General of the Siamese Government Surveys prior to establishment of the
Royal Survey Department, wrote in his account, "''Mae Nam'' is a generic term, ''mae'' signifying "mother" and ''Nam'' "water," and the epithet Chao P'ia signifies that it is the chief river in the kingdom of Siam."
, who served as Director of the Department of Mines in Siam from 1891 to 1896, refers to it in his book first published in 1898 as "the Mae Nam Chao Phraya".
In the English-language media in Thailand, the name Chao Phraya River is often translated as ''river of kings''.
History
On the basins of Chao Phraya River rose the earliest civilizations in the south east Asia, most notably the ancient Mon kingdom and the civilization of
Dvaravati from the 7th century to the 11th century, the river played a crucial role in the
Lavo kingdom that existed on its left bank in the Upper Chao Phraya valley, Chao Phraya maintained its role in the kingdoms that succeeded the Lavo kingdom, forming the bases of the Ayodhaya kingdom, that was later incorporated into the