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
Central Thailand 22 provinces, which includes the following: Central Thailand, as defined by the four-region system, is divided into 26 provinces. Especially for statistical purposes these are divided into four groups: The eastern region is sometimes listed as a separate region distinct from central Thailand – sometimes only the four coastal provinces, sometimes the above list excluding Nakhon Nayok. None of these regions are actually administrative subdivision, they are only geographical or statistical groupings. In Thailand Central Thai are the ethnicity that is the dominant ethnic group and language standard for forming standard Thai, rather than the other ethnic peoples in Thailand