Kra Isthmus

The Kra Isthmus (Template:Langx, Template:IPA; Template:Langx), also called the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. At its narrowest point, between the Thai cities of Kra Buri and Chumphon, the coastal distance between the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand is only 44 km (27 mi).<ref>See the International Institute of Marine Surveying’s page on the Kra Canal Project.</ref>

The Kra Isthmus marks the boundary between two sections of the mountain chain which runs from Tibet through the Malay peninsula. The southern part is the Phuket Range, which is a continuation of the Tenasserim Hills, extending further northwards for over Template:Convert beyond the Three Pagodas Pass.<ref>Gupta, A. The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia</ref>

The Kra Isthmus is in the Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests ecoregion. Dipterocarps are the dominant trees in the ecoregion.<ref>Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.</ref>

Pacific War

On 8 December 1941 local time, the Imperial Japanese army landed in Songkhla, invading Thailand. Because of the International Date Line, this actually occurred hours before the 7 December (Hawaii time) attack on Pearl Harbor, making it the first major action of the Pacific War. Japanese forces then moved south towards Perlis and Penang as part of the Malayan campaign, which culminated in the capture of Singapore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kra Canal

The Thai Canal is a long-standing proposal to join the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Various routes were proposed<ref>Template:Citation</ref> to shortcut voyages from India to China, and avoiding the Strait of Malacca. The northernmost route was championed by Edward O'Riley (1821-1856), a government official in Burma, and Henry Wise, in England, when it was the subject of a report to the British Parliament in 1859 by Consul Robert Schomburk from Bangkok.<ref>1859 Session 2 [2572] Despatch relative to the projected ship-canal across the Isthmus of Kraa (sic.)</ref> A later crossing is related by Loftus.<ref name="Loftus">Template:Cite book</ref>