Ko Sai

Ko Sai
Ko Sai; เกาะทราย
	Island
	Ko Sai island (left) seen from the shore. Ko Khi Nok (center) and Ko Sadao island (right) are smaller.
	Ko Sai
	Coordinates: 12°29′N100°0′E / 12.483°N 100.000°E
Country	Thailand
Province	Prachuap Khiri Khan
Amphoe	Hua Hin
Elevation	35 m (115 ft)

Last updated April 15, 2019

Ko Sai (เกาะทราย) is one of the gulf islands of Thailand. It lies on the west side of the Gulf of Thailand, about 2 km off-shore.^[1]

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Southeast Asian Indochinese peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At 513,120 km² (198,120 sq mi) and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world's 50th largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. Although nominally a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the most recent coup in 2014 established a de facto military dictatorship.

The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the western part of the South China Sea, a marginal body of water in the western Pacific Ocean. The gulf is around 800 km (497 mi) long and up to 560 km (348 mi) wide, has a surface area of 320,000 km² (123,553 sq mi) and is surrounded on the north, west and southwest by Thailand, on the northeast by Cambodia and Vietnam. The South China Sea is to the southeast.

Geography

Ko Sai is the largest of a group of three rocky islets also known as "Pran Rocks", off the fishing village of Khao Takiab, just south of Hua Hin. This area belongs administratively to Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.

Prachuap Khiri Khan is one of the western provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It is in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, some 240 km (150 mi) south of Bangkok. Neighboring provinces are Phetchaburi to the north and Chumphon to the south. To the west it borders Tanintharyi Region of Myanmar.

Ko Sai has a maximum length of 0.4 km and its highest point reaches 35 m. Ko Sai vaguely resembles a sitting lion when seen from shore. Local tour operators call it "Lion Island" (Ko Singto) and organize regular sightseeing and snorkeling excursions to visit it.^[2]

Adjacent islands

Two smaller islets are close to Ko Sai:

Ko Sadao (เกาะสะเดา), south of Ko Sai. Its highest point 15m. This island is called "Ko Tao" (Turtle Island) by the travel agencies in the area, but it should not be confused with Ko Tao in Surat Thani Province.
Ko Khi Nok (เกาะขี้นก), is the smallest of the group. It is just a few hundred metres to the east of Ko Sadao. This is the lowest island and its name in Thai means "Guano Island". Its highest point is only 3 m and, unlike the other two islets, it barely has any vegetation. Ko Khi Nok is called "Ko Nok" (Bird Island) by the local tour organizers, but like the other alternative names above, it is not to be found in official documents.

Ko Tao 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. Administratively it forms a district (amphoe) of Surat Thani Province. As of 2006 its official population was 1,382. The main settlement is Ban Mae Hat.

Surat Thani, often shortened to Surat, is the largest of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It lies on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Surat Thani means "city of good people", a title given to the city by King Vajiravudh.

Guano is the accumulated excrement of seabirds and bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium: nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a lesser extent, sought for the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials. The 19th-century guano trade played a pivotal role in the development of modern input-intensive farming, but its demand began to decline after the discovery of the Haber-Bosch process of nitrogen fixing led to the production of synthetic fertilizers. The demand for guano spurred the human colonization of remote bird islands in many parts of the world. During the 20th century, guano-producing birds became an important target of conservation programs and influenced the development of environmental consciousness. Today, guano is increasingly sought after by organic farmers.

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Songkhla is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani, and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia.

Phi Phi Islands Archipelago in Krabi, Thailand

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Ko Samui is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus, Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted municipal status and thus is now locally self-governing. Ko Samui is Thailand's second-largest island after Phuket, with an area of 228.7 km², a population of over 63,000 and a hotel occupancy rate of 73 percent as the number of visitors continues to increase. Abundant tourist resources, sandy beaches, coral reefs, and coconut trees are present on the island.

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References

↑ Hydrographic Service of the Royal Thai Navy, Chart 001
↑ Alternative names

Ko Sai

Contents

Geography

Adjacent islands

Related Research Articles

References

External links

See also