sustain a dense population, 422 people per square kilometre in 1987, compared with an average of 98 for the country as a whole. The terrain of the region is dominated by the Chao Phraya and its tributaries and by the cultivated paddy fields. Metropolitan Bangkok, the focal point of trade, transport, and industrial activity, is on the southern edge of the region at the head of the Gulf of Thailand and includes part of the Chao Phraya delta. Eastern Thailand Eastern Thailand lies between the Sankamphaeng Range, which forms the border of the northeastern plateau to the north, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. The western end of the Cardamom Mountains, known in Thailand as Thio Khao Banthat, extends into eastern Thailand. The geography of the region is characterised by short mountain ranges alternating with small basins of short rivers which drain into the Gulf of Thailand. 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 promote the Eastern Seaboard industrial development, a major factor in the economy of the region. Western Thailand Thailand's long mountainous border with Myanmar continues south from the north into western Thailand with the Tenasserim Hills, known in Thailand as Thio Khao Tanaosi (เทือกเขาตะนาวศรี). The geography of the western region of Thailand, like the north, is characterised by high mountains and steep river valleys. Western Thailand hosts much of Thailand's less-disturbed forest areas. Water and minerals are also important natural resources. The region is home to many of the country's major dams, and mining is an important industry in the area. Southern Thailand Southern Thailand, part of a narrow peninsula, is distinctive in climate, terrain, and resources. Its economy is based on tourism, and palm oil and rubber plantations. In Krabi Province, for example, palm plantations occupy 980,000 rai (1,568 km2), or 52% of the province's farmland. Other sources of income include coconut plantations, tin mining. Rolling and mountainous terrain and the absence of large rivers are conspicuous features of the south. North-south mountain barriers and impenetrable tropical forest caused the early isolation and separate political development of this region. International access through the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand made the south a crossroads for both Theravada Buddhism, centered at Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Islam, especially in the former Pattani Kingdom on the border with