Thames (/tɛmz/ ⓘ) (Māori: Pārāwai) is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island.

[9] Thames was formed from two historic towns, Grahamstown and Shortland, of which many original buildings still stand.

Shortland was to the south of Thames and was founded on 27 July 1867 when James Mackay, civil commissioner for the Hauraki District, concluded an agreement with local Māori.

This agreement secured the rights to local mineral deposits leading to the proclamation of the Thames Goldfield on 1 August.

The leasing of the land for such a huge income was a source of great envy by other Maori iwi and hapu.

[10] Grahamstown was founded the following year at the northern end of present Thames, approximately one mile from Shortland.

The era from 1868 to 1871 were the bonanza years for the town with gold production topping one million pounds sterling at its peak.

The three richest fields were the Manukau / Golden Crown / Caledonian mines but many others yielded near equivalent amounts.

The land involved in goldmining in Thames was Māori-owned; important parts of the goldfield were owned by the Ngāti Maru rangatira (chief) Rapana Maunganoa and the Taipari family.

It is incorrectly said to have been a wedding gift for the couple when actually Wiremu's father had paid money for another whare (meeting house), which was sold to the governor general at the time.

The house, named Hotunui[16] in honour of an important Ngāti Maru ancestor, now stands in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

The Carters - Kopu sawmill, 9 km south of Thames, closed in 2008 with the loss of 145 jobs.

[17][18] In 2012, mayor of Thames-Coromandel called NZTA safety procedures into question when a sink hole on State Highway 25 north of Thames, opened above an old mine shaft.

[22] The book True Tales of Thames was launched at The Treasury by The Coromandel Heritage Trust.

Another is the precision engineering works and foundry of A & G Price, established 1868, who built 123 steam locomotives for New Zealand Railways Department.

Thames has also been used as a filming location for movies including Falling Inn Love and Bridge to Terabithia.

[34] By then competition, following the opening of the railway in 1898 and then the Hauraki (now Kopu) Bridge in 1928,[35] had reduced the profitability of the wharves[34] and a commissioner had been appointed, as the town couldn't meet its debts.

[36] Ships which have served Thames have included SS Go Ahead and Northern Steamship Co's Terranora (1898), Kapui (1911)[37] and Waipu (1928).

[39] Go Kiwi operate a shuttle bus from the east coast of Coromandel, via Thames, to Auckland.