Final Hazards Report

Reflecting back on this semester I have learned a lot of different hazards that the country of Thailand experiences. Thailand is a country located on the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia with a population of approximately 66 million people. The weather is diverse across the country but mainly tropical. I had the pleasure of going to Thailand in Spring of 2014, it was a very beautiful country and I visited Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Phuket. These cities are all very diverse, Chiang Mai is in the jungle, Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and is a very large and industrialized city, and Phuket is a beach resort town. The two most dangerous natural hazards that Thailand experiences are earthquakes and flooding. 

Earthquakes are very prevalent Thailand consists of 15 active fault zones (Department). The three biggest faults are the Pagoda and are located in central Thailand. “When a fault ruptures, rocks break apart suddenly and violently, releasing energy in the form of seismic waves. These waves radiate outward in all directions from the focus"(Keller 61). Earthquakes kill hundreds of people a year from  building collapses, falling objects, roadways splitting, bridges breaking, and objects falling atop people. This devastates the economy because it costs a lot in damage repair. Thailand has a pretty advanced warning system but it could be improved. I recommend creating a better evacuation plan and community efforts with making set plans for each town. This includes creating a food storage with foods that do not expire that can be taken on the go along with water bottles. 

Flooding affects thousands of families each time it occurs in Thailand. This leaves many homeless and frantic to find food and shelter for the coming nights. This not only affects the immediate home owners but the farmers. Flooding kills crops by over watering and by bringing all the debris in the land around and it sits on the crops and makes and environment they cannot thrive in.  and creates an enormous amount of money losses yearly. It not only kills crops but people and animals too. Thousands of people get swept up in the currents and drown. Thailand runs off of tourism and with natural disasters occurring repeatedly it creates a decline in visitors. I recommend satellite imagery of floods that can predict and help countries cope with floods. This allows for families to evacuate and get all belongings out of the area before the disaster strikes. 

I would target the northwest areas of the country for flooding and central Thailand for earthquakes. If I were to build a house I would build it in the southwest, this is on the beach and it experiences some natural disasters but more of the tropical storms. This is the most beautiful area in my opinion. 

Sources:

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodgett. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/about/workshops/thailand/downloads/Thailand-workshop-results-new.pdf

http://www.dmr.go.th/main.php?filename=fault_en

http://www.livingthai.org/earthquakes-in-thailand.html

http://www.seismology.tmd.go.th/en/

http://floodlist.com/asia/thailand-floods-over-3000-families-affected-in-northern-provinces

http://floodlist.com/asia/4-dead-14000-evacuated-floods-thailand-malaysia-border

http://floodlist.com/asia/flood-resistant-rice-tested-thailand

http://floodlist.com/asia/servir-mekong-satellite-maps-flood-protection-se-asia

http://floodlist.com/protection/targeted-tree-planting-alleviates-flooding

http://www.floodsafety.noaa.gov/during.shtml

Picture Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15581957
http://earthquake-report.com/2011/03/26/massive-and-extremely-dangerous-earthquake-in-the-border-area-in-between-myanmar-thailand-laos-and-china/

http://www.thaisocal.org/2011/10/19/the-thai-association-of-washington-state-tawa-to-act-as-a-primary-contact-for-thailand-flood-victim-donation/

Week 13: Coastal Erosion

Thailand’s coastal erosion is prominent. "The exploitation of resources, population growth, developments of tourism, aquaculture, and industries caused evidences of environmental degradation in resources of the areas that lead to coastal problems” (Department of Mineral Resources). Thailand has a total coastal length of 2,815 km that consists of sandy beaches, dunes, wetland, rocky coast, cliffs and islands. 

Coastal erosion can be solved with technologies and management. The main reason these problems have not been solved as of yet is the overlapping responsibilities among government agencies. There is conflict on the issues. With the main problems being development and tourism (littering) this could be solved by not creating new attractions or at a slower rate. Rising sea levels due to climate change are also a big threat to Thailand’s coast line. Local residents depending on fishing will be at risk. Sandbags are placed offshore to help slow down erosion and dissipate the powerful waves while trapping sediment to protect mangrove forest growth. The Thai government alerts the coastal areas by using radio and tv frequencies along with newspaper articles explaining that the coastal areas are due to erosion. Buying land on the coast is not encouraged at least in the places prone to cliff erosion. The Thai weather and geological center monitors the erosion and is in action to prevent further damage. 

Sources:

http://www.dmr.go.th/main.php?filename=coastal_En

http://www.irinnews.org/report/79685/thailand-sustainable-approach-tackle-coastal-erosion

Picture Source:
http://www.phuketgazette.net/thailand-news/Phuket-Gazette-Thailand-News-Andaman-erosion-avian-flu-alert-Poh-pardon-polls-to-please/20146
http://paranormalis.com/threads/loss-of-life-from-landslides.4161/
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2016/select-destinations/thailand