Thung Kula Ronghai ( th, ทุ่งกุลาร้องไห้, ) is a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

in northeastern

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 ...

. Its area is around 2.1 million rai (or 3,200 km²). It lies in the provinces of Surin,

Maha Sarakham Sarakham is the capital city of Maha Sarakham Province in Thailand's northeastern (Isan) region. Sarakham, as it is known to its inhabitants, is in a rice-growing area on the southern Khorat plain, straddling the Chi River. Mahasarakham is 475 ...

Yasothon Yasothon ( th, ยโสธร, ) is a town on the Chi River in the north-eastern region of Thailand. It is the capital and administrative center of Yasothon province and seat of its city district. In this district, subdistrict Nai Mueang ( 'in ...

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, and

Roi Et Roi Et (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in north-eastern Thailand, capital of Roi Et Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Roi Et district. As of 2006 it had a population of 34,229. Roi Et is 514 km from Ban ...

History and legend

Its name translates to 'fields of the crying Kula'. Legend has it that the

Kula Kula, which translates as ''Tower'' from Serbo-Croatian, may refer to: People *Bob Kula, American football player *Irwin Kula (born 1957), American rabbi and author *Karel Kula (born 1963), Czech footballer Places * Kula, Bihać, a village in ...

, from Mottama,

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 ...

, traveled through this plateau. The Kula were known for their endurance and toughness. They spent several days traveling the region without passing any villages or finding water. The surroundings had no trees to provide shade. It was only arid land. Trekking through this area was very difficult. The dry land and scarceness of water supply exhausted the Kula and made them weep. Historically, Thung Kula Ronghai had suffered desert-like conditions during dry season and flooding during rainy season. Soils were plagued by

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

. The area has since been reclaimed and today the region has become a well-known Hom Mali rice producing area of Thailand.

References

{{coord missing, Thailand Geography of Thailand Agriculture in Thailand Isan