Thailanda

The Capital of Thailanda: Bangkok

Besides being the largest exporter of rice, Thailand is the worlds number one
export of rubber and number 2 in the export of sugar.
The economy of Thailand is heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for
more than two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP). Thailand exports over
US$105 billion worth of goods and services annually.[1] Major exports include rice,
textiles and footwear, fishery products, rubber, jewellery, cars, computers, and
electrical appliances.
Agriculture
Forty-nine per cent (49%) of Thailand's labour force is employed in
agriculture. This is down from 70% in 1980. Rice is the most important crop in
the country and Thailand had long been the world's leading exporter of rice, until
recently falling behind both India and Vietnam. Thailand has the highest percentage
of arable land, 27.25%, of any nation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. About
55% of the arable land area is used for rice production.
Energy
75% of Thailand's electrical generation is powered by natural gas in 2014. Coal-fired
power plants produce an additional 20% of electricity, with the remainder coming
from biomass, hydro, and biogas.
Thailand produces roughly one-third (1/3) of the oil it consumes. It is the second
largest importer of oil in SE Asia. Thailand is a large producer of natural gas, with
reserves of at least 10 trillion cubic feet. After Indonesia, it is the largest coal
producer in SE Asia, but must import additional coal to meet domestic demand.
Demographics
Thailand had a population of 66,720,153 as of 2013. Thailand's population is largely
rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and
northern regions. Thailand had an urban population of 45.7% as of 2010,
concentrated mostly in and around the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.
Thailand's government-sponsored family planning program resulted in a dramatic
decline in population growth from 3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today. In 1970, an
average of 5.7 people lived in a Thai household. At the time of the 2010 census, the
average Thai household size was 3.2 people.

Energy in Thailand
Energy in Thailand refers to energy and electricity production, consumption, import
and export in Thailand. According to the Ministry of Energy, the country's primary
energy consumption was 75.2 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) in 2013, an
increase of 2.6% over the previous year. According to British Petroleum, energy
consumption was 115.6 Mtoe in 2013.
75% of Thailand's electrical generation is powered by natural gas in 2014.
Thailand produces roughly one-third of the oil it consumes. It is the second largest
importer of oil in SE Asia. Thailand is a large producer of natural gas, with reserves
of at least 10 trillion cubic feet. After Indonesia, it is the largest coal producer in SE
Asia, but must import additional coal to meet domestic demand.
Electricity production
Ninety percent of Thai electrical generating capacity is conventional thermal. Oilfired plants have been replaced by natural gas, which as of 2014 powers 75% of
electrical generation. Coal-fired plants produce an additional 20%, with the
remainder from biomass, hydro, and biogas.
Thailand has no nuclear power plants. Plans to produce 5 gigawatts of electricity by
2025 using nuclear technology have been scaled back to 2 GW in the aftermath of
the Fukushima disaster.
Oil
50.4

Natural
Gas
47.0

Energy Consumption by Fuel, 2013 (Mtoe)

Coal
Nuclear
Hydro
Renewabl
es
16.0
0
1.3
1.0

Total
115.6

Oil
Production: Thailand first began producing oil in 1981, when it started producing
2,000 barrels (42 US gallons) per day. By 2013, daily production had increased to
459,000 barrels. Proved oil reserves are estimated at 0.4 thousand million barrels.
Consumption: Consumption in 2013 was 1.2 million barrels per day, a 2% increase
over the previous year.

Environmental issues in Thailand

The government of Thailand has focused on the social and economic development
of the country for the past 35 years. However, since Thailand introduced the
Seventh Economic and Social Development Plan (1992-1996),[1] protecting the
environment has become one of the top priorities of the Thai government. The
Seventh Economic and Social Development Plan seeks to achieve sustainable
growth and stability, especially in the petrochemical, engineering, electronics, and
basic industries.[2]
Thailand's dramatic economic growth has brought forth environmental challenges to
the once-agrarian economy. The country presently faces problems with air and
water pollution, declining wildlife populations, deforestation, soil erosion, water
scarcity, and hazardous waste issues. According to the 2004 indicator, cost of air
and water pollution for the country scales up to approximately 1.6-2.6% of GDP per
year.[3] As such, Thailand's economic growth has come at great cost in damage to
its people and environment.
Air pollution
Industrial growth has created high levels of air pollution in Thailand. Vehicles and
factories contribute to air pollution, particularly in Bangkok.[4]
The Bangkok metropolitan area, which consists of the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration (BMA) and the four surrounding provinces (Nonthaburi, Pathum
Thani, Nakhon Pathom, and Samut Prakan), holds about 20% of the national
population and over half of the country's factories. Due to a lack of treatment
facilities, increasing volumes of hazardous substances generated by the thriving
industrial activities have caused serious dumping issues. Unless treatment facilities
are built and institutions starts to regulate strictly, environmental contamination
caused by hazardous waste threatens to become Thailand's worst environmental
problem in the future.[1]
The Pollution Control Department and other agencies have developed standards in
order to reduce air pollution. The standards focus on shifting to lower-emissions
vehicle engines and improving public transportation. Environmentally-unfriendly
motorbikes represent around 75% of the vehicles on the road in Thailand.[citation
needed] Diesel trucks and buses also contribute many pollutants. In most areas of
the country, air pollutants for vehicles are now within acceptable levels according to
national standards.

Factories and power plants have been required to reduce emissions. Bangkok and
the rest of the Central Region contribute between 6070% of the countrys industrial
emissions. Most power plants rely on burning fossil fuels.[citation needed]
Other sources of air pollution include garbage burning, open cooking and
agricultural burning practices, including deliberate forest fires.
Agricultural burning in Southeast Asia often creates a haze. In 2003 Thailand ratified
the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution to reduce the haze from
forest fires, but issues throughout the region are still common.[5] Wildfires are
started by local farmers during the dry season in northern Thailand for a variety of
purposes,[6][7] with February and March as the two months when conditions are at
their worst.[8][9] In research conducted between 2005 and 2009 in Chiang Mai,
average PM10 rates during these months were found to be well above the country's
safety level of 120 g/m3,[10] peaking at 383 g/m3 on 14 March 2007.[11] They
are the main cause of the intense air pollution in the Thai highlands[12] and
contribute to the floods in the country by completely denuding the undergrowth of
the woods.[13] The dry forest soil leads to lower water intake for the trees to extract
when the rains arrive.[14]
Deforestation
Forest cover in Thailand has been greatly reduced as people convert forested land
to agriculture. Forest cover fell drastically from 53% in 1961 to 25% in 1998. During
the period 2001-2012, Thailand lost 1 million hectares of forest, while restoring
499,000 hectares.[15] Wetlands have been converted to rice paddies and urban
sprawl.[16] With a government measures in place to prohibit logging, deforestation
rates have dropped, but the impacts of deforestation are still being felt.[17]
Deforestation creates a host of environmental problems: soil erosion, sedimentation
of rivers, and loss of natural habitat. Wetlands and mangroves in coastal areas have
been seriously degraded by expansion of commercial fishing, shrimp aquaculture,
industry, and tourism, causing much of Thailand's biodiversity losses.[18] It is
estimated that Thailand in 1961 had 3,500 km2 of mangrove forests. By 2004 that
number was less than 2,000 km2 according to the Thai government.[19]
Field and forest burning
The burning of agricultural fields and forested areas is an yearly event, mainly in the
dry month of March, which has become increasingly more destructive and
widespread in the northern provinces of Thailand.
Fires occurring in that area fall into three main categories: forest fires, agricultural
burning, and roadside burning. Forest fires are deliberately set mainly for the
supposedly increased forest product yields, especially the earth star mushroom
(Astraeus hygrometricus (Pers.) Morgan, or "hed thob" or "hed phor" in Thai), which

has seasonal availability and a high market price.[20] In order to collect these fungi,
local farmers use fire either to clear the forest floor to make it easier to find the
mushroom or because fire is thought to stimulate the growth of this mushroom.
"Cheap and fast" is a shorthand explanation for the intentional use of fire to clear
agricultural fields, overgrown roadsides, and open areas. Cattle herders also burn
areas to stimulate the growth of Imperata grass which is able to quickly produce
new leaves during the hot-dry season. New leaves produced on burnt areas have a
higher nutrient value, which is perfect for cattle grazing. Roadside fires are set to
clear vegetation from encroaching on roadways. Fires produce large amounts of
smoke which stagnates low lying areas, causing eye irritation and respiratory
ailments. Large areas of degraded forest are destroyed by fire each year.[21]
Most areas burned are left in poor condition as evidenced by mostly sparse woody,
often deformed or stunted growth and many bare areas where nothing grows and
severe erosion has occurred. Fire not only destroys forest biodiversity and
vegetation and retards forest growth, but also results in erosion, air pollution and
flash-flooding. Proper replanting of severely degraded places is often the only
remedial action available as natural regeneration has stopped in many places.
Overfishing
In 1950, the newly constituted Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations estimated that, globally, we were catching about 20 million metric
tons of fish (cod, mackerel, tuna, etc.) and invertebrates (lobster, squid, clams,
etc.). That catch peaked at 90 million tons per year in the late 1980s, and it has
been declining ever since.[22]Thailand is no exception to this decline.
Thailand is a peninsular country of 514,000 km2 blessed with over 3,565 km of
coastline, 2,700 km on the Gulf of Thailand and 865 km on the Andaman Sea. It's
exclusive economic zone extends over 306,000 km2.[23] Historically, fish from
Thailand's off-shore waters have been a significant provider of protein to the
population. In 2001, the average yearly fish consumption was 32.4 kg per capita
and provided on average 10-14 grams of protein per capita per day. It provides
40.5% of animal protein sources and 17.6% of total protein. Consumption of fish is
almost certainly higher than reported as many fish are caught by smallholders and
consumed without passing through the marketplace.[24]
Thailand's marine fish resources are over exploited, and while the catch has
increased, the catch per unit of effort (CPUE) has decreased markedly.[24]:p.1 Put
another way, average catches in Thai waters have fallen by 86% since the
industrys large expansion in the 1960s.[25]
The over-exploitation of fish stocks in Thailand has led to the creation of a huge
aquaculture industry, human trafficking to man fishing vessels voyaging ever
further out to sea, and the depletion of "trash fish" as well as marketable juvenile
fish to feed the increasing demand for fish meal for farmed shrimp.[26]

On 21 April 2015 the European Commission threatened Thailand, the third-largest

seafood exporter in the world, with a trade ban if it did not take action on illegal
fishing. The EU, the world's largest imported of fish products, since 2010 has taken
action against countries that do not follow international overfishing regulations,
such as policing their waters for unlicensed fishing vessels and imposing penalties
to deter illegal fishing. Thailand has failed to certify the origin and legality of its fish
exports to the EU and now has six months to implement an action plan to address
the shortcomings. EU fisheries commissioner Karmenu Vella declared that,
"Analysing what is actually happening in Thailand, we noticed that there are no
controls whatsoever, there are no efforts whatsoever." [27]The EU imported 145,907
tons of fish products worth 642 million from Thailand in 2014.
Water resources
There are four main geographical regions in the country: the north, the central
plains, the northeast, and the south. Thailand has a total of 25 river basins in the
country and Thailand's annual rainfall is around 1,700 mm. Despite the annual
southwest monsoon, Thailand is subject to drought, particularly the northeastern
region.[29] As of 2002, Thailand had available less water available per person than
any other country in Asia, and nearly one-third of its water was "unsuitable for
human consumption."[30] Non-potable water was a result of increasing untreated
domestic sewage, industrial waste water, and solid hazardous wastes.[30]
The most critical environmental problem that Thailand faces presently is water
pollution.[1] Like air pollution, water pollution is most serious in the populous
central region, with high levels of industrial and domestic waste water. The
depletion of the water table around Bangkok has led to land subsidence which has
exacerbated flooding.
Coastal waters also face challenges. The Gulf of Thailand is polluted by domestic
waste water, and further by waste from industry and tourism. High pollution levels
are found at the mouths of the Chao Phraya, Tha Chin, Pak Panang, Pattani, and
Ranong rivers. Coastal water quality in most areas, however, is within established
limits.
Water pollution has become obvious in many areas. In 1997, hundreds of thousands
of fish and other aquatic life in the Nam Phong River died as a result of industrial
pollution.[31] Large amounts of arsenic were found in the groundwater in Nakhon Si
Thammarat Province, a result of mining in the area.[32] Pollution affects the marine
environment. Red tides, caused by excessive algae growth and a result of pollution,
oil spills, and invasive species are some of the factors that are affecting Thailand's
marine biodiversity.[3]
Another major source of pollution are the heavy metals that have seeped into the
rivers of Thailand. In the Chao Phraya estuary, mercury levels have far exceeded

normal standards, and high concentrations of heavy metals on the river bed poses a
serious threat to ecosystems.[1]
Health effects[edit]
Water pollution results in typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis, trachoma, hookworm, and
diarrhea. In 1999, hospitalization rates were:
Typhoid: 4,000 hospitalizations
Dysentery: 7,000 hospitalizations
Diarrhea: 95,000 hospitalizations
Exposure to toxins and heavy metals in water causes skin disease, liver cancer, and
birth defects. Klity Creek in Kanchanaburi Province was found to carry dangerous
levels of lead from a lead separation plant upstream. Lead levels are apparently the
cause of many cases of Down syndrome in village children, unidentified illnesses in
adults, and many cattle deaths. In 1998, the plant was closed and the creek
dredged, although by 2000 lead levels were still considered unsafe.[citation needed]

Improvement efforts[edit]
In 1992, the government passed several pieces of legislation to prevent water
pollution. The laws primarily limit industrial water contamination:
Enhancement and Conservation of National Environment Quality Act (NEQA) of 1992
Factories Act of 1992
Navigation in Thai Waterways Act (Volume 14 ) as amended in 1992
Public Health Act of 1992
Cleanliness and Tidiness of the Country Act of 1992
The government continues to invest in wastewater treatment plants. In 2000,
enough treated water was available to support 29% of the population, with more
treatment plants under construction. Upon completion, treated water will support
65% of the population. The most common water treatments are inexpensive to build
and maintain. They include oxidation ditches, aerated lagoons, and stabilization
ponds. The government is also investigating more effective and modern techniques
such as constructed wetlands.
Wildlife

Thailand's wildlife is threatened by poaching, habitat loss, and an industry that sells
wild animals as pets.[33]
The elephant is Thailand's national symbol. Although there were 100,000 elephants
in Thailand a century ago, the population of elephants in the wild has dropped to an
estimated 2,000.[34] Poachers have long hunted elephants for ivory, meat, and
hides. Young elephants are often captured for use in tourist attractions or as work
animals, although their use has declined since the government banned logging in
1989. There are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild, and
environmental activists claim that elephants in captivity are often mistreated.[35]
Poaching of protected species remains a major problem. Hunters have decimated
the populations of tigers, leopards, and other large cats for their valuable pelts.
Many animals (including tigers, bears, crocodiles, and king cobras) are farmed or
hunted for their meat, which is considered a delicacy, and for their supposed
medicinal properties. Although such trade is illegal, the famous Bangkok market
Chatuchak is still known for the sale of endangered species.[36][unreliable source?]
The practice of keeping wild animals as pets threatens several species. Baby
animals are typically captured and sold, which often requires killing the mother.
Once in captivity and out of their natural habitat, many pets die or fail to reproduce.
Affected populations include the Asiatic black bear, Malayan sun bear, white-handed
lar, pileated gibbon and binturong.[33]
Large-scale deforestation and development have encroached on many former
wildlife habitats, and pesticides in their food supply has reduced bird populations.
Several species of sawfish are listed as critically endangered because of habitat loss
and overfishing.[37]
Despite Buddhism's professed reverence for life, even Thai clergy have been guilty
of overt animal abuse. One such case, that of Kwan, a Malayan sun bear,
egregiously mistreated at Wat Aungsuwan (aka Wat Nong Hoy) in Prachuap Khiri
Khan Province has been thoroughly documented by the Wildlife Friends Foundation
Thailand (WFFT).[38] First alerted to abuse at the temple in January 2012, it was not
until three years later that Thai wildlife officials acted on behalf of the mistreated
animals.[38]
Conservation in theory[edit]
Conservation bills passed by the government include:[39]
1960 Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act
1961 National Park Act
1964 National Forest Reserve Act

1989 Logging ban in natural forests

1992 Forest Plantation Act
1992 Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act
1992 Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act (WARPA), which forbids or
restricts the hunting, breeding, possession, and trade of fifteen reserved animal
species and two classes of protected species.
Until the acts of 1989-1992, conservation policies were difficult to enforce, and
often took a back seat to economic development.[40] These acts represented a
major shift in Thai policy, and are part of the government's cooperation with the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), an international wildlife protection agreement.

The government now requires that at least 15% of its land area be protected as
forest, and 22% is currently protected as wildlife sanctuaries or national parks. To
enforce CITES, the government also maintains border checkpoints to prevent animal
smuggling, and works to educate the public about wildlife preservation. Thailand's
Buddhist culture, with its emphasis on respect for all life, has become a key
component of the country's conservation efforts.[33]
Conservation in practice[edit]
Current (2015) national law allows for ivory from domesticated Thai elephants to be
sold legally. As an unintended consequence, large quantities of African ivory can be
laundered through Thai shops. Only by closing the domestic trade in ivory can
Thailand help eliminate the threat to African elephants. Thailand's ivory market is
the largest in the world and trade is largely fuelled by ivory from poached African
elephant's tusks that are smuggled into the country.[41]
In July 2014, at a CITES intercessional meeting, Thailand agreed to a strict timetable
to address the illegal ivory trade or face the threat of trade sanctions. One week
before the meeting, the TRAFFIC had released a survey of Bangkok that found
significantly more retail shops and three times as much ivory on sale as in 2013.
Thailand was given until 30 September 2014 to submit a revised national ivory
action plan, to include a number of CITES specified measures. Thailand was to be
next assessed by CITES on 31 March 2015. If found lacking, CITES will vote vote on
whether trade sanctions should be imposed against the country. The impact of
punitive sanctions on the national economy would be significant: all trade in CITESlisted species would be prohibited. The export of orchids by the country's
horticultural sector, for example, would be stopped, resulting in a loss of more than
US$80 million in annual sales based on the 2013 value of this trade.[42]