Western Thailand is a region of

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 ...

bordering

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 ...

on the west,

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 ...

on the south, and

central Thailand Central Thailand (Central plain) or more specifically Siam (also known as Suvarnabhumi and Dvaravati) is one of the regions of Thailand, covering the broad alluvial plain of the Chao Phraya River. It is separated from northeast Thailand (Isan) by ...

on the east.

Geography

Thailand's long mountainous border with Myanmar continues south from

northern Thailand Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of Thailand ...

into western Thailand following 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 ...

. This narrow region stretches from

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 ...

's outer reaches to the border with Myanmar and from 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 ...

in the north to Chumphon Province in the south. The geography of the western region is characterised by high mountains and steep river valleys. Western Thailand hosts much of Thailand's less-disturbed forest areas. Water and minerals are important natural resources. The region is home to many of the country's major dams, and mining is an important industry. Many village names in western Thailand rely heavily on the physical geography of the region.

Provinces of western Thailand

According to the six geographical regions established by the National Research Council of Thailand, the western region includes the following provinces: #

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 ...

(กาญจนบุรี) #

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 ...

(เพชรบุรี) #

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 ...

(ประจวบคีรีขันธ์) #

Ratchaburi Ratchaburi ( th, ราชบุรี, ) or Rajburi, Rat Buri) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in western Thailand, capital of Ratchaburi Province. Ratchaburi town covers the entire ''tambon'' Na Mueang (หน้าเมือง) of Mueang ...

(ราชบุรี) # Tak (ตาก)

Economy

For economic statistics of Western Thailand, Suphan Buri and Samut Songkhram provinces are listed by

National Statistical Office (Thailand) The National Statistical Office of Thailand (NSO) ( th, สำนักงานสถิติแห่งชาติ; ) is the government of Thailand's official statistics surveyor. It is an agency of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Societ ...

. However Tak Province is listed by (lower)

Northern Thailand Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of Thailand ...

.
For FY 2018, Western Thailand Region had a combined economic output of 579.815 billion baht (US$18.7 billion), or 3.5 percent of Thailand's GDP. Ratchaburi province had an economic output of 189.68 billion baht (US$6.12 billion). This amounts to a GPP per capita of 233,258 baht (US$7,524), more than double for Suphan Buri province, lowest in the ranking.

Weather forecast

Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Suphan Buri and Samut Songkhram provinces have been added to the central region by

Thai Meteorological Department The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) is the Thai governmental agency responsible for weather forecasting and monitoring. It is an agency of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES). It maintains four meteorological centers: one each ...

(TMD).
Petchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces are part of the southern region (east coast).

References

Regions of Thailand {{Thailand-geo-stub

Geography

Provinces of western Thailand

Economy

Weather forecast

See also

References