Environment
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Plate Tectonics
Climate
- Thailand rarely experiences earthquakes, but does experience tremors that are mainly in the northern region. (ABC News, Kosuwan, Takashima, Charusiri)
- Thailand sits on the south part of the Eurasian Plate.
- This country does have mountains and plateaus, which are caused by the subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate with the Eurasian plate.
Climate
- Thailand's climate is tropical and has high humidity and temperatures. (Amazing Thailand)
- There are three main seasons: a rainy season, a cool season, and a hot season. The rainy season is from May to October, the cool season is from October to March, and the hot season is from March to May. (Nations Encyclopedia)
- The tropical climate has created mostly tropical and wet ecosystems. Ecosystems in Thailand include coral reefs and tropical evergreen forests. (Thailand's World) The people of Thailand have adapted to this climate by wearing light-weight clothes and sandals or flip flops basically all year-round since it is a tropical climate. The abundant amount of rainfall that Thailand experiences helps them maintain their rice crops. The tropical climate impacts the type of sports played there because the warm weather allows them to have a lot of outdoor sports such as kite-fighting, boat racing, and deep-sea fishing. Conflicts associated with the tropical environment include mosquitoes because of the the rain and bodies of water. Dengue fever is a problem throughout Thailand because of the mosquitoes. (Rodgers)
- The citizens of Thailand get their water from mainly surface and ground water sources. 1/3 of the surface water is of poor quality. The largest source of ground water in Thailand is in the Lower Central Plain, surrounding Bangkok. Northern Central and Southern regions have the lowest water quality. (TheWaterProject.org) Tap water in Thailand is not considered safe (Rodgers)
- Water sources include the Mekong River, Chao Phraya River, Mun, Yom, Nan, and Ping Rivers. Another resource is the Gulf of Thailand.
- Agriculture and Industry expansion, urbanization, and population growth are all impacting the quality of water sources in Thailand. (TheWaterProject.org)
- The military government of Thailand plans to spend 100 billion baht (4 billion U.S. Dollars) on water projects. The projects are part of the country's new 10-year water management plan.(Asia One Business) There is also a clean water project currently going on. Imagine Thailand's Clean Water Project is working to filter water in the village of Mae Sot, which is where the organization is currently focused. There are 60 migrant schools for students who left Myanmar because of violence and poverty who don't have water safe enough to drink other than water bottles. (Imagine Thailand)
- The M.W.A. (Metropolitan Waterworks Authority is the operator of water for Bangkok and neighboring provinces. A problem for the MWA is that private parties have made over 14,000 artesian wells, which is causing a lack of water available to Bangkok. The main water source for this company is the Chao Phraya River, which is suffering pollution. The P.WA. (Provincial Waterworks Authority) is the operator of waterworks for the rest of Thailand. The PWA's subsidiary provides the water to different provinces, industrial estates, and provinces in the eastern section of Thailand. Thailand has had part of the water supply privatized in the provinces. (Lex Mundi)
- Thailand has many natural and mineral resources. A few natural resources include timber, lead, natural gas, fish, rice, and forests that are used to produce natural rubber.(Thailand In Breif) A few mineral resources include gypsum (used for fertilizer), lignite (brown coal), tantalum (medical implants and bone repair), and tungsten (incandescent light bulb filaments). (Wikipedia)
- Natural resources that are exported include fish, rice, and natural rubber.
- Imports include oil, iron and steel, and machinery parts.
- Thailand is battling the problem of water pollution that affects the fish and other wildlife that lives in the water. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is working to educate people about the affect of pollution and how they can stop it. Hazardous waste treatment facilities are also helping to reduce pollution. (Wikipedia)