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The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range ( my, တနင်္သာရီ တောင်တန်း, ; th, ทิวเขาตะนาวศรี, , ; ms, Banjaran Tanah Seri/Banjaran Tenang Sari) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the
Indo-Malayan mountain system in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
.
Despite their relatively scant altitude these mountains form an effective barrier between
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
in their northern and central region. There are only two main transnational roads and cross-border points between
Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi ( th, กาญจนบุรี, ) is a town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') in the west of Thailand and part of Kanchanaburi Province. In 2006 it had a population of 31,327. That number was reduced to 25,651 in 2017. The town ...
and
Tak, at the
Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass ( Phlone ; my, ဘုရားသုံးဆူ တောင်ကြားလမ်း, ''Paya Thon Zu Taung Za Lang'', ; th, ด่านเจดีย์สามองค์, , ) is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the ...
and at
Mae Sot
Mae Sot ( th, แม่สอด, ; my, မဲဆောက်, ; shn, , ) is a city in western Thailand that shares a border with Myanmar to the west. It is notable as a trade hub and for its substantial population of Burmese migrants and refug ...
. The latter is located beyond the northern end of the range, where the Tenasserim Hills meet the
Dawna Range
The Dawna Range (; th, ทิวเขาถนนธงชัยตะวันตก, ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand. Its northern e ...
. Minor cross-border points are
Sing Khon
Singkhon Pass ( th, ด่านสิงขร), also referred to as Sing Khon and as Maw Daung after the name of the Burmese town west of the border, is a pass across the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, at an eleva ...
, near
Prachuap Khiri Khan
Prachuap Khiri Khan ( th, ประจวบคีรีขันธ์, ) is a town in western Thailand. It is the capital of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province and is on the coast at one of the narrowest stretches in Thailand, only from the border ...
, as well as
Bong Ti and
Phu Nam Ron
Phu Nam Ron ( th, พุน้ำร้อน) is a pass across the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, at an elevation of . The border checkpoint on the Thai side is in Ban Kao Subdistrict, Mueang Kanchanaburi District, ...
west of
Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi ( th, กาญจนบุรี, ) is a town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') in the west of Thailand and part of Kanchanaburi Province. In 2006 it had a population of 31,327. That number was reduced to 25,651 in 2017. The town ...
. The latter is expected to gain in importance if the planned
Dawei Port Project goes ahead, along with a highway and a railway line between
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
and that harbor.
The southern section of this extensive chain of mountains runs along the
Kra Isthmus
The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) 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 Thailand. The ...
into 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 ...
almost reaching
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. Many rivers have their source in these mountains, but none of them are very long.
Etymology
This mountain chain is named after the
Tenasserim Region ''(Tanintharyi)'' in Burma and its name in Thai is ''Thio Khao Tanaosi'', also spelt as ''Tanawsri'', ''Tanao Sri'', ''Tanaw Sri'' or in
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
as ''Tanah Seri''. All those names are corrupted form of the original
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
Tanah Seri, which means glowing land.
Geography
The Tenasserim Hills are part of a long
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
mountain ridge that is older than the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
.
Further south from the 16th parallel, the
Shan Hills
The Shan Hills ( my, ရှမ်းရိုးမ; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated ...
break up into narrow steep-sided ranges, the Dawna Range in the west and, parallel to it at the southern end, the peninsular Tenasserim Mountains that extend southwards along the Kra Isthmus.
Eastwards, in
Kanchanaburi Province on the Thai side, the mountain range is crossed by the
Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River ( th, แม่น้ำแควใหญ่, , ), also known as the Si Sawat ( ), is a river in western Thailand. It has its source in the Tenasserim Hills and flows for about through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang ...
and the
Khwae Noi River
The River Kwai (), more correctly Khwae Noi ( th, แควน้อย, , 'small tributary') or Khwae Sai Yok (, ), is a river in western Thailand. It rises to the east of the Salween in the north-south spine of the Bilauktaung range near, but ...
. In this area small hill ridges alternate with narrow valleys that are often only about 2 km wide and further east there are only isolated hills, where the range ends in the Central Plain of Thailand. Further south the
Phachi, the
Pranburi and the
Phetchaburi River
250px, Sign of the river.
The Phetchaburi River ( th, แม่น้ำเพชรบุรี, , ) is a river in western Thailand. It has its source in the Tenasserim Hills, in the Kaeng Krachan National Park, Kaeng Krachan district and flows ...
flow eastwards from the range towards the
Gulf of Siam.
The westernmost range is separated from the Tenasserim coast by the
Three Pagodas Fault
The Three Pagodas Fault is a right-lateral displacement Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, strike-slip fault between Burma and Thailand named after the Three Pagodas Pass. It developed as a consequence of the collision between the Indian Plate, In ...
. West of it lie the Dawna Range, the
Karen Hills
The Karen Hills, () also known as Kayah-Karen Mountains, are one of the main hill ranges in eastern Burma. They are located at the SW corner of Shan State and in Kayah State, a mountainous region where the only relatively flat area is Loikaw, t ...
and the valleys of the
Salween
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
and the
Gyaing. Southwards on the western side, the
Ye,
Heinze,
Dawei
Dawei (, ; mnw, ဓဝဲါ, ; th, ทวาย, RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the northern bank of ...
(Tavoy),
Great Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) and the
Lenya rivers are relatively short and flow into the
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...
. Further south the
Kraburi River
The Kraburi River ( th, แม่น้ำกระบุรี, , ; my, မြစ်ကြီးနား, BGN/PCGN: myitkyina, ''Kyan River''), also Kra ( th, กระ) or Pak Chan River ( th, แม่น้ำปากจั่น) is the ...
forms the southern border between Thailand and Burma.
Sections
*Northern: The northern end of the range overlaps with the
Dawna Range
The Dawna Range (; th, ทิวเขาถนนธงชัยตะวันตก, ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand. Its northern e ...
and is not clearly defined. Some geographic works set the
Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass ( Phlone ; my, ဘုရားသုံးဆူ တောင်ကြားလမ်း, ''Paya Thon Zu Taung Za Lang'', ; th, ด่านเจดีย์สามองค์, , ) is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the ...
as the northern limit. The
Tenghyo Range is a small northern prolongation following the
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...
coast. The highest points in the northern section of the range are in the
Bilauktaung
Bilauktaung is a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. It is located in Burma on the border with Thailand. It extends from the Dawna Range for about 400 km along the frontier area to the Kra Isthmus.
Geography
The Bilauktaung includes Myinmolet ...
subrange in Myanmar, where 2,072 m high
Myinmoletkat Taung
Myinmoletkat Taung is the highest mountain in Myanmar Tanintharyi Region. Located on the Bilauktaung, Tenasserim Hills, Burma.
Geography
It is located in the Tanintharyi Region, to the southeast of Myinmoletkat village, west from the border wi ...
is the highest point of the northern section of the Tenasserim range, and with a prominence of 1,857 m one of the
ultra prominent peak
An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of or more; it is also called a P1500.
The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or fro ...
s of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
as well. Other noteworthy peaks are Ngayannik Yuak Taung 1,531 m and Palan Taung 1,455 m. The average elevations of the Tenasserim Hills are higher on the Burmese side, with many mountain peaks reaching 1,000 m, while on the Thai side the highest summits remain around 600 m save few exceptions.
*Central: The southernmost extension of the Bilauktaung reaches the northern end of the Kra Isthmus. Further south the 1,835 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 ...
(เขาหลวง), located in
Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, is the tallest mountain in
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 ...
. In this area the wider range is divided into separate ridges with gaps between them. Some recent geographical works refer to the sections of the Tenasserim Hills in the isthmus as 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 ...
" and the "
Nakhon Si Thammarat Range
The Nakhon Si Thammarat Range ( th, ทิวเขานครศรีธรรมราช, , ) is a mountain range on the Malay peninsula in southern Thailand, running in a north–south direction. This mountain chain is also sometimes named Ba ...
". These names are not found, however, in classical geographic sources.
*Southern: The
Titiwangsa
Titiwangsa is one of the main areas located in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Kuala Lumpur General Hospital is located south of Titiwangsa. The current member of parliament for Titiwangsa is Johari Abdul Ghani from Barisan Nasional ...
,
Bintang,
Tahan and
Pantai Timur Ranges form the southern section of the mountain system. The northern part is known as the
Sankalakhiri Range, formed by the smaller Pattani, Songkhla and Taluban subranges. The
main range runs approximately in a northwest–southeast orientation across the border into
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...
, and forms the backbone of the peninsula, separating the
west and east coast regions. The main stretch of the Titiwangsa Mountains cover the states of
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in the ...
,
Pahang
Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...
,
Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...
,
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
and
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
.
Foothills
Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...
extend further southeastwards into
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
, where 1,276 m high
Mount Ophir
Mount Ledang ( ms, Gunung Ledang; historically also: Mount Ophir) is a mountain in the Gunung Ledang National Park located in Tangkak District, Johor, Malaysia. The summit is located next to the tripoint of Tangkak, Jasin and Tampin Distri ...
is located. The 2,187 m high
Mount Tahan
Mount Tahan ( ms, Gunung Tahan), is the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia with an elevation of above sea level. It is located within the Taman Negara national forest, in the state of Pahang. The mountain is part of the Tahan Range in the Ten ...
of the
Tahan Range Tahan Range (Malay: ''Banjaran Tahan'') is a mountain range in Pahang and Kelantan, Malaysia. Along with the Titiwangsa Mountains to its west, the Tahan Range forms the southernmost extension of the larger Tenasserim Hills chain of mountains. Its na ...
and the 2,183 m high
Mount Korbu
Mount Korbu () is a mountain in Hulu Kinta, Perak, Malaysia, about 25 km from Ipoh. It is the highest peak in the state of Perak , located on the Titiwangsa Mountains, the southernmost section of the Tenasserim Hills.
Mount Korbu is also th ...
are the highest summits of this stretch and of the whole Tenasserim Range.
Ecology
Great extensions of these hills are covered with dense
tropical moist forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Description
TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...
. Usually the western slopes are more densely forested than the eastern for they receive more abundant
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 ...
rains.
The range is home to several distinct ecoregions. The Dawna and other northern ranges are in the
Kayah-Karen montane rain forests ecoregion. The
Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests cover the
Bilauktaung
Bilauktaung is a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. It is located in Burma on the border with Thailand. It extends from the Dawna Range for about 400 km along the frontier area to the Kra Isthmus.
Geography
The Bilauktaung includes Myinmolet ...
range and the Isthmus of Kra, and extend to the coast on both sides of the isthmus. The Kayah-Karen montane rain forests and Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen forests together form the
Kayah-Karen/Tenasserim moist 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 ...
which is included in the
Global 200
The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...
list of ecoregions identified by the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation.
The Kangar-Pattani floristic boundary runs across the peninsula in southern Thailand and northernmost Malaysia, marking the boundary between the large biogeographic regions of
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
to the north and
Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...
and
Malesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...
to the south. The forests north of the boundary are characterized by seasonally-deciduous trees, while the Sundaland forests have more year-round rainfall and the trees are mostly evergreen. The ranges in Peninsular Malaysia are part of the
Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests
The Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests is an ecoregion on Malay Peninsula. It occupies the mountainous spine of the peninsula in Malaysia and southernmost Thailand. It is in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome.
Geog ...
ecoregion.
The Tenasserim Hills form the habitat for a number of endangered species, including the
Gurney's pitta
Gurney's pitta (''Hydrornis gurneyi'') ( th, นกแต้วแร้วท้องดำ) is a medium-sized passerine bird. It breeds in the Malay Peninsula, with populations mainly in Myanmar. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate ...
, endemic to Thailand and Burma, as well as the
Asian elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...
and
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
. The
Sumatran rhinoceros
The Sumatran rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis''), also known as the Sumatran rhino, hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros. It is the o ...
has been reported in the northern section of the wider range. There are records from the north of
Tenasserim proper, where there were numerous reports in 1962, to
Kota Tinggi
Kota Tinggi is a town and capital of Kota Tinggi District, Johor, Malaysia. Kota Tinggi is also the name of the district, Kota Tinggi District, where the town is situated.
Kuala Sedili or Tanjung Sedili, a small fishing town located 37 km ...
in the south where a rhino was captured in 1994. The
Endau-Rompin National Park
Endau-Rompin National Park ( Malay: ''Taman Negara Endau-Rompin'') is a protected tropical rainforest in the southernmost prolongation of the Tenasserim Hills, Malaysia. It is south of the state of Pahang and northeast of Johor covering an area of ...
in Malaysia has the largest remaining Sumatran rhinoceros population in the range.
Other species include the
sambar deer
The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...
,
barking deer
Barking may refer to:
Places
* Barking, London, a town in East London, England
** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking
** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
,
serow
The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals.
Extant ...
,
red goral
The red goral (''Naemorhedus baileyi'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the subfamily Caprinae in the family Bovidae. It is found in India, Tibet and Myanmar. Its natural habitats are seasonal mountainous areas 1,000 to 2,000 meters above s ...
,
leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
,
Kitti's hog-nosed bat
Kitti's hog-nosed bat (''Craseonycteris thonglongyai''), also known as the bumblebee bat, is a near-threatened species of bat and the only extant member of the family Craseonycteridae. It occurs in western Thailand
Thailand ( ), histor ...
, the
Tenasserim white-bellied rat and the
Tenasserim lutung, as well as a number of bird species and the
Tenasserim Mountain bent-toed gecko. Among the fishes in the streams and rivulets of the range the
emperor loach and the
Tenasserim garra deserve mention.
The
Tanintharyi National Park and the
Tanintharyi Nature Reserve were established in 2005, and the
Lenya National Park was proposed in 2002 and 2004, on the Burmese side in order to implement
habitat conservation
Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in term ...
, but
illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...
driven by greed and corruption is an ongoing problem on both sides of the border. On the Thai side the
Kaeng Krachan National Park
Kaeng Krachan National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติแก่งกระจาน, , ) is the largest national park of Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thaila ...
was demarcated already in 1981, covering parts of the districts of
Nong Ya Plong,
Kaeng Krachan and
Tha Yang of
Phetchaburi Province
Phetchaburi ( th, เพชรบุรี, ) or Phet Buri () is one of the western or central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram, and Prachuap Khiri Khan. In the w ...
, and of
Hua Hin
Hua Hin ( th, หัวหิน, ) is one of eight districts (''amphoe'') of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula in Thailand. Its seat of government, also named Hua Hin, is a beach resort town. The district ...
of
Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. The
Khao Sam Roi Yot 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, pronou ...
is located in the Khao Sam Roi Yot limestone mountains, a coastal offshoot of the main Tenasserim range and
Nam Tok Huay Yang National Park is another park in
Prachuap Khiri Khan Province that is located on the Thai side by the border area between 100 and 1200 metres above sea level. In Malaysia the main protected areas in the range area are
Endau-Rompin National Park
Endau-Rompin National Park ( Malay: ''Taman Negara Endau-Rompin'') is a protected tropical rainforest in the southernmost prolongation of the Tenasserim Hills, Malaysia. It is south of the state of Pahang and northeast of Johor covering an area of ...
,
Gunung Ledang National Park,
Taman Negara
Taman Negara is a national park in Peninsular Malaysia. It was established in 1938/1939 as the King George V National Park after Theodore Hubback lobbied the sultans of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan to set aside a piece of land that covers the ...
and
Selangor State Park
The Selangor State Park ( ms, Taman Negeri Selangor, also known as Taman Warisan Negeri Selangor) is a park located in Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia. The 914.41 square kilometre park was gazetted on by the state on January 25, 2007. Upon its ...
.
The killing of
wild
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to:
Common meanings
* Wild animal
* Wilderness, a wild natural environment
* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed
Art, media and entertainment Film and television
* ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
elephants
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...
is a big problem at
Kaeng Krachan National Park
Kaeng Krachan National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติแก่งกระจาน, , ) is the largest national park of Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thaila ...
, with the authorities being unable to control the poachers.
Some park officials are allegedly involved in the trade of elephant parts.
History
This range forms a natural border between Burma and Thailand, but it was crossed in 1759 by Burmese troops led by
Alaungpaya
Alaungpaya ( my, အလောင်းဘုရား, ; also spelled Alaunghpaya or Alaung-Phra; 11 May 1760) was the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). By the time of his death from illness during his campaign in Siam, this f ...
and his son
Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin ( my, ဆင်ဖြူရှင်, , ; th, พระเจ้ามังระ; 12 September 1736 – 10 June 1776) was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Ala ...
during the
Burmese–Siamese War (1759–1760)
The Burmese–Siamese War (1759–1760) ( my, ယိုးဒယား-မြန်မာစစ် (၁၇၅၉–၁၇၆၀); th, สงครามพม่า-สยาม (พ.ศ. 2302–2303)) was the first military conflict between th ...
. The Burmese battle plan was to go around the heavily defended Siamese positions along shorter, more direct invasion routes. The invasion force overran relatively thin Siamese defenses in the coast, crossed the Tenasserim Hills to the shore of the
Gulf of Siam, and turned north towards
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
.
In January 1942, at the beginning of the
Japanese conquest of Burma
The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942) ...
, the main body of the Japanese 33d Division began the main attack towards
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
westward from Thailand across the
Kawkareik
Kawkareik (; my, ကော့ကရိတ်, ; ksw, ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ) also spelled as Kawkarike, is a town in Karen State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Kawkaraik District and Kawkaraik Township.
History
The K ...
Pass in the Tenasserim Range. A road was cut across the mountains by Japanese military engineers, but many infantry units crossed the range on foot in an arduous march through the forests and cliffs. This road was impracticable during the rainy season, when mud and rivulets made advance difficult for the Japanese Infantry and
leech
Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodie ...
es abounded.
Between 1942 and 1943, during the construction of the
Burma Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...
between
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
and
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
,
Hellfire Pass
Hellfire Pass ( th, ช่องเขาขาด, known by the Japanese as ''Konyu Cutting'') is the name of a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway ("Death Railway") in Thailand which was built with forced labour during the Second Worl ...
in the Tenasserim Range was a particularly difficult section of the line to build. It was the largest rock cutting on the railway, also known as the "Death Railway", coupled with its general remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building.
The
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, other allied prisoners of war, along with
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
,
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
and
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
labourers, were required by the Japanese to complete the cutting of the stretch. 69 men were beaten to death by Japanese and
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
guards in the six weeks it took to build the railway pass, and many more died from
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
,
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
,
starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...
, and
exhaustion
Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...
(Wigmore 568).
On 19 July 2011, a
Royal Thai Army
The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
History
Origin
The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift Utility helicopter, utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transpo ...
helicopter crashed in these mountains, killing 9. The chopper had been sent out to recover five bodies of victims of another helicopter crash involving a
Bell UH-1 Iroquois
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helic ...
, that had occurred two days earlier while looking for
illegal loggers in
Kaeng Krachan National Park
Kaeng Krachan National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติแก่งกระจาน, , ) is the largest national park of Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thaila ...
near the Burmese border west of
Phetchaburi
Phetchaburi ( th, เพชรบุรี, ) or Phet Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phetchaburi Province. In Thai, Phetchaburi means "city of diamonds" (''buri'' meaning "city" in Sanskrit). It is approx ...
. The Black Hawk helicopter crashed near 978 m high
Yage Taung mountain in the Tanintharyi National Park zone in Burma, close to the border with Thailand.
A third helicopter, a
Bell 212
The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in ...
, also crashed in the same area on Sunday, 25 July a few miles further east close to the
Kaeng Krachan Reservoir
Thai curry ( th, แกง, translit=kaeng, ) is a dish in Thai cuisine made from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the curries in India in their use of ingr ...
. Superstitious people blamed the three consecutive crashes on the fact that, according to
Thai folklore
Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large ...
, the densely forested mountains of the Tenasserim Range have strong
guardian spirits.
Bangkok Post - Superstitions haunt forest
/ref>
See also
*Indochinese tiger
The Indochinese tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Southeast Asia. This population occurs in Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. In 2011, the population was thought to comprise 342 individuals, including ...
*Malayan tiger
The Malayan tiger is a tiger from a specific population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Peninsular Malaysia. This population inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified ...
* List of ecoregions in Burma
*Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass ( Phlone ; my, ဘုရားသုံးဆူ တောင်ကြားလမ်း, ''Paya Thon Zu Taung Za Lang'', ; th, ด่านเจดีย์สามองค์, , ) is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the ...
*Tenasserim Pine
''Pinus latteri'', or Tenasserim pine, is a pine native to Mainland Southeast Asia.
Description
''Pinus latteri'' is a medium-sized to large tree, reaching tall and with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is orange-red, thick and deeply fis ...
*Great Tenasserim River
The Great Tenasserim River or the Tanintharyi River is a major river of southeastern Burma. It flows through the Tanintharyi Region, past the town of Tanintharyi, and enters the sea at Myeik (Mergui). The river rises from the Tenasserim Range at ...
*Western Forest Complex
The Western Forest Complex, straddling two countries, Thailand and Myanmar, including 19 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, is the main biodiversity conservation corridor of the region. Covering 18,730 km2, it is one of the largest pro ...
*
References
External links
Geography of Thailand
Google Books, ''The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia''
Emperor Botia (Botia udomritthiruji)
The Geology of Burma (Myanmar)
Background on troops’ location of Government army in Mon State and Tenasserim Region
{{Mountain ranges of Thailand
Mountain ranges of Malaysia
Mountain ranges of Myanmar
Mountain ranges of Thailand
Malay Peninsula
Peninsular Malaysia
Southern Thailand
Tanintharyi Region