Eastern Thailand

Eastern Region
Region
From upper-left to lower-right:Pattaya in daytime,Port of Laem Chabang,Khao Khitchakut,Ko ChangandWat Sothonwararam
Eastern Region in Thailand
Largest city	Chaophraya Surasak CityandPattaya
Provinces	7 Provinces Chachoengsao Province Chanthaburi Province Chonburi Province Prachinburi Province Rayong Province Sa Kaeo Province Trat Province
Area
• Total	34,481 km2(13,313 sq mi)
Population (2019)
• Total	4,841,806
• Density	140/km2(360/sq mi)
GDP
• Total	US$98.2 billion (2019)
Time zone	UTC+7(Thailand)

Eastern Thailandis a region ofThailandborderingCambodiaon the east,Northeastern Thailandin the north, andcentral Thailandon the west.

Geography

Eastern Thailand lies between theSankamphaeng Range,which forms a natural border with theKhorat Plateauto the north and theGulf of Thailandto the south. The geography of the region is characterised by short mountain ranges (collectively grouped under theChanthaburi Range) alternating with small basins of short rivers which drain into the Gulf of Thailand. Between the Chanthaburi and Sankamphaeng mountains lies the basin of theBang Pakong Riversystem.

Fruit is a major component of agriculture in the area, and tourism plays a strong part in the economy. The region's coastal location has helped promoteeastern seaboardindustrial development, a major factor in the economy of the region.

Islands off Eastern Thailand's coast includeKo Sichang,Ko Lan,Ko Samet,andKo Chang.

National parks

Main article:List of national parks of Thailand

Within the eastern region there are some eightnational parks.Pang Sida National Parkcovering 844 km²in Sa Kaeo province, it constitutes a part of theDong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest ComplexUNESCO World Heritage Site, covering in total around 6,100 km².The total forest parent area is 8,205 km²(3,168 sq mi) or 22.4 percent of this eastern region area (incl. Nakhon Nayok province).Mu Ko Chang National Parkin Trat province includes 85 per cent of Thailands second largest island Ko Chang. The beaches on the western coast of Ko Chang have been excluded from the national park for reason of facilitating the tourism industry.Mu Ko Samet National Parkin Rayong province is just 6 km long by 3 km wide with beaches covered with some of the finest white sand in the country.

Administrative divisions

According to thesix geographical regionsestablished by the National Research Council of Thailand, the eastern region includes seven provinces.

TheThai Meteorological Department(TMD), theOffice of the National Economic and Social Development Council(NESDC)andRoyal Forest Department(RFD) also include province Nakhon Nayok in the Eastern region.

Flag	Seal		Province	Capital	DOPA	Popul.	Area (km2)	Dens.	ISO
		1	Chonburi	Chonburi	9	1,558,301	4,508	346	TH-20
		2	Rayong	Rayong	50	734,753	3,666	201	TH-21
		3	Chanthaburi	Chanthaburi	7	537,698	6,415	84	TH-22
		4	Trat	Trat	16	229,958	2,866	78	TH-23
		5	Chachoengsao	Chachoengsao	8	720,113	5,169	139	TH-24
		6	Prachin Buri	Prachin Buri	31	494,680	5,026	99	TH-25
		7	Sa Kaeo	Sa Kaeo	63	566,303	6,831	83	TH-27

Note:Populationis based on "Statistics, population and house statistics for the year 2019" from Registration Office Department of the Interior. Reference date is 31 December 2019.
Areais based on "Thailand boundary from Department of Provincial Administration.

Economy

For fiscal year 2018, Eastern Thailand Region had a combined economic output of 3,026 trillion baht (US$97.6 billion), or 18.5 percent of Thailand's GDP. Rayong province had an economic output of 1.045 trillion baht (US$33.7 billion). This amounted to a per-capita Gross Provincial Product (GPP) value of 1,067,449 baht (US$34,434), almost double the GPP per-capita of the three following provinces in the ranking.

Gross Provincial Product (GPP)

Rank	Province	GPP (million baht)	Population (x 1000)	GPP per capita (baht)
1	Rayong	1,045.7	980	1,067,449
2	Chonburi	1,030.9	1,819	566,801
3	Prachin Buri	319.0	621	513,789
4	Chachoengsao	386.6	823	469,539
5	Chanthaburi	120.2	553	217,393
6	Trat	43.1	267	161,322
7	Nakhon Nayok	30.2	259	116,717
8	Sa Kaeo	50.8	630	80,716
	Eastern region	3,026,495	5,951	508,568

Languages

Main articles:Thai language § Dialects,Isan language,andWestern Khmer dialect

The main language of Eastern Thailand isCentral Thai languagebut alsoregionalism.Krungthep dialect (dominant variant) is spoken amongThai Chinesecommunities, that isEEC area(such as inChonburi,Siracha,Pattaya,Padriew,Bangpakongetc.), dialect from Prachinburi Province pretty similar with Ayutthaya dialect (traditional working class dialect inBangkok), while the Rayong dialect and Chantaburi dialect are pretty similar with Suphanburi dialect (another dialect in Central Thailand).

Isan languageare minority status in Eastern Thailand, most are spoken in the eastern part ofPrachinburiand upper part ofSa Kaeo Provinces,this is the same variant as the Khonkaen dialect (Standard Lao language). Khmer language in Eastern Thailand is mostly spoken among older generation in Chantaburi and today becomeendangered language.

See also

• Regions of Thailand
• Eastern Seaboard of Thailand

External links

• Eastern Thailandtravel guide from Wikivoyage