Songkhla Lake

The Songkhla lake (Thai: ทะเลสาบสงขลา, rtgs: Thale Sap Songkhla, IPA: [tʰa.leː sàːp sǒŋ.kʰlǎː]) is the largest natural lake in Thailand, located on the Malay peninsula in the southern part of the country. Covering an area of 1,040 km² it borders the provinces of Songkhla and Phatthalung. Despite being called a lake, this water surface is actually a lagoon complex geologically.

The lake is divided into three distinct parts. The southern part opens by a 380 m wide strait to the Gulf of Thailand at the city of Songkhla, and contains brackish water of about half the salinity of the ocean. Further north after a bottleneck of only 6 km width is the Thale Luang (782.80 km²), and finally at the northern end in between a mangrove swamp the 28 km² small Thale Noi in Phatthalung Province. The most striking feature is the long 75 km long spit which separates the lake from the sea. Unlike most spits, it is probably formed when originally existing islands became interconnected by the silting from the lake precursor.

Songkhla

Songkhla (Thai: สงขลา, pronounced [sǒŋ.kʰlǎː]), also known as Singgora or Singora (city on the mountain), is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. As of 2006 it had a population of 75,048. Songkhla lies 968 km south of Bangkok.

Despite being smaller than the neighboring city Hat Yai, Songkhla is the capital of Songkhla Province as well as the Mueang Songkhla district (Songkhla town district).

Due to its location at the opening of Songkhla Lake to the Gulf of Thailand, Songkhla is a fishing town and also an important harbour. It is the major seaport on the east side of the Isthmus of Kra.

History

On 8 December 1941 local time, hours before the 7 December (Hawaii time) attack on Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese army landed here, invading Thailand. It then moved south towards Perlis and Penang as part of the Malayan campaign which culminated in the capture of Singapore.

Since 2003 Songhkla has been affected by the Muslim insurgency in neighboring Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala.

Songkhla (disambiguation)

Songkhla may refer to:

Places in Thailand

See also