The Nakhon Si Thammarat Range ( th, ทิวเขานครศรีธรรมราช, , ) is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

on 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 area ...

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 , bounded ...

, running in a north–south direction. This mountain chain is also sometimes named Banthat Range (ทิวเขาบรรทัด), a name which is however also used to refer to the Chanthaburi mountain range.

Location

The main range of the peninsula begins along the east coast at about 10° 05′ north latitude on

Ko Tao Ko Tao ( th, เกาะเต่า, , ) is an island in Thailand and is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. It covers an area of about 21 km2 (8 sq mi). Administratively it is a subdistrict ('' ...

. It continues through

Ko Pha Ngan Ko Pha-ngan ( th, เกาะพะงัน, , ) is an island in the Gulf of Thailand in Surat Thani Province of southern Thailand. Ko Pha-ngan is best known for its Full Moon Party at Hat Rin Beach. Ko Pha-ngan has two sister islands: th ...

and

Ko Samui Ko Samui (or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; th, เกาะสมุย, ) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko ...

to the east coast mainland, east of

Bandon Bay Bandon Bay ( th, อ่าวบ้านดอน, , ) is a bay in the Gulf of Thailand in Surat Thani Province, extending from the Sui cape in Chaiya District in the northwest to Kanchanadit District to the east. The total coastline is about ...

, and parallels the coast all the way into Malayan territory.

Description

The mountains are named after the town

Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat prov ...

, located east of the range. The highest elevation is the 1835 m high

Khao Luang Khao Luang (เขาหลวง) is the tallest mountain in southern Thailand. It is in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. Geography The Khao Luang mountain is the highest summit of a massif of several hills with steep slopes. It is part of the Nakh ...

. This mountain range is a part 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 ...

system.Avijit Gupta, ''The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia'', Oxford University Press, 2005. It begins to the east of the

Phuket Range The Phuket Range ( th, ทิวเขาภูเก็ต, ''Thio Khao Phuket'', ) is a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills in the Kra Isthmus, Thailand. Geography The Phuket chain is a continuation of the greater Tenasserim range, forming one of ...

, which runs in the same direction about 60 km further west. Between the ranges there are isolated peaks, the highest of which is 1,350 m high Khao Phanom Bencha. To the south it is continued by the Sankalakhiri Range. Several smaller rivers originate in the mountain range, the Tapi River is the largest by far. Another relatively large river is the

Trang River Trang River ( th, แม่น้ำตรัง) is one of main rivers of Trang Province apart from Palian River. Trang River has two origins, the first one is in Khao Luang, a summit of Nakhon Si Thammarat Range, Nakhon Si Thammarat Provinc ...

. The range 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 l ...

Protected areas

Several national parks are located in the mountain range. *

Tai Rom Yen National Park Tai Romyen National Park ( th, ใต้ร่มเย็น) is in the east of Surat Thani Province in southern Thailand. The park consists of the northern end of the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range and is mostly covered with forests. It wa ...

Khao Luang National Park Khao Luang (เขาหลวง) is the tallest mountain in southern Thailand. It is in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. Geography The Khao Luang mountain is the highest summit of a massif of several hills with steep slopes. It is part of the Nak ...

Khao Nan National Park Khao may refer to: * Khao, Iran ( fa, خاو), a village in Kurdistan Province, Iran * Khao ( th, เขา, pronounced ), the term for 'mountain' in Central and Southern Thailand; see List of mountains in Thailand * Khao ( th, ข้าว, pronoun ...

Namtok Yong National Park Nam tok ( th, น้ำตก) is a Thai and Lao word meaning waterfall. It can refer to: *Nam Tok Railway Station, terminus of the Burma Railway *For waterfalls in Thailand see :Waterfalls of Thailand In Thai and Lao cuisine, the term Nam tok is ...

* Khao Pu - Khao Ya National Park

References

External links

National Park Division
Tenasserim Hills Mountain ranges of Thailand Malay Peninsula Nakhon Si Thammarat province Southern Thailand {{Thailand-geo-stub