Geography of Thailand 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 Malaysia. Thailand's regions are divided politically into a total of 76 provinces plus Bangkok, which is a special administrative area. Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). The southwest monsoon, which starts from May until October is characterized by movement of warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean
Provinces of Vietnam Provinces of Vietnam On the First Tier, Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces () and 5 municipalities (). Municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in Vietnam. Municipality are centrally-controlled cities and have special status equal to the provinces. The provinces are divided into Provincial Cities, Towns and Rural Districts as the Second Tier units. At the Third Tier, Provincial City and Town is divided into Ward and Commune, while Rural District is divided into Townships (thị trấn) and Communes. Vietnamese provinces are controlled by a People's Council (Hội Đồng Nhân Dân), elected by the inhabitants. The number of councilors varies from