Koh Kong ( km, កោះកុង), or Koh Kong Krao, is an island in 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 ...

, in the coastal waters of

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

, around south of Koh Kong town, as it is part of Koh Kong Province. It is Cambodia's largest island.

Location and description

The center of Koh Kong Island ( km, កោះកុង; ''Kaôh Kŏng Krau'') is situated around south-west of Koh Kong town. The island stretches from North to South and from East to West on average. The

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

''Passe de Lămdăm'' that separates the island from the mainland in the north is less than wide. The island's southern tip lies less than off the mainland, the narrow strait is the gateway to the ''Bay of Koh Kong (Chhak Kaoh Kong)'' in the East, which occupies an area of around . The only settlements are small fishing villages, ''Alatang'' on the south-east corner, ''Phumi Koh Kong'' on the west coast and ''Phumi Thmei'' (Khmer for new village) on the eastern coast. The interior is rather hilly - the highest peak in the north rising up to , rugged rock formations create many waterfalls. Rivers that drain the mountains end in freshwater estuaries and countless lagoons, which are flanked by scenic beaches.

Sleeping

The north end is controlled by the military, camping is allowed at your own risk on the 5th and 6th beaches and also at the military post in the village of Alatang.

Wildlife

Acridotheres tristis -Sydney, Australia-8

Koh Kong Island is in the much larger Cardamom Rainforest Ecozone, and the island is covered in evergreen

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

, fed by the annual

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

from the

Mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s cover some of the coastal areas and estuaries. The island is home to a number of

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s such as

macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...

s, wild boar and indigenous squirrels, bird, such as horn-bills,

mynah The myna (; also spelled mynah) is a bird of the starling family (Sturnidae). This is a group of passerine birds which are native to southern Asia, especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Several species have been introduced to areas like ...

and small Psittaciformes. The entire eco-region of Koh Kong remains in a relatively original state and is home to a great variety of reptiles and amphibians,

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, fungi and plants. Large areas of Koh Kong's eastern coast and the Bay of Koh Kong are engulfed in extensive mangrove forests, the basis for various aquatic and marine species. The giant moth ''

Attacus atlas ''Attacus atlas'', the Atlas moth, is a large Saturniidae, saturniid moth endemic to the forests of Asia. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Descri ...

'' can be found on the island.

Marine life

Under water,

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s and swathes of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

are scattered across the shallow, and sandy coastal areas, supporting a prolific marine life. It is expected that the waters surrounding the island will be part of a new marine national park in 2021. In June 2020, a

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

headed by the Cambodian Minister of Environment was established, on initiative of the Royal Government, tasked with reviewing and overseeing any future construction and development projects on Koh Kong Krao. The committee is needed, as the island is part of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), encouraging economic development. The marine fauna around the island includes harmless

whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, D ...

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

s, dolphins (endangered

Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin (''Orcaella brevirostris'') is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in scattered subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. It closely resembles the ...

finless porpoise ''Neophocaena'' is a genus of porpoise native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as the freshwater habitats of the Yangtze River basin in China. They are commonly known as finless porpoises. Genetic studies indicate that ''Neophocaena'' is ...

s, and

Chinese white dolphin The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (''Sousa chinensis'') is a species of humpback dolphin inhabiting coastal waters of the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans. This species is often referred to as the Chinese white dolphin in mainland Chi ...

s),Kong S
Dolphin Survey in PKWS and adjacent areas in Koh Kong, Cambodia
(pdf). BCR Coastal Forum III, Cambodia.

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. Retrieved on March 02, 2017

Parrot fish Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, ro ...

, snapper fish,

barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

, king fish, cobia fish, wahoo fish,

swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

, grouper fish, crabs, shrimps, squids.

References

{{coord, 11, 20, N, 103, 00, E, display=title, region:KH_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki Islands of Cambodia Geography of Koh Kong province Islands of the Gulf of Thailand

Location and description

Sleeping

Wildlife

Marine life

See also

References