Final Hazards Report

  Thailands Largest Natural Threats 

    Thailand faces many natural hazards and should understandably be prepared for anything to happen because of their versatile climate and coastal location. The largest threats posed by natural events are

extreme heat and coastal erosion. These two events are very hard on the population, as living with extremely high temperature and a slowly sinking coastline effects the people of Thailand in many of their day to day lives. Temperatures can be seen rising across the entirety of their country,  and can easily be attributed to climate change we see across the world. Thailand seems to be heavily affected, as the climate before human impact had already been tropical with the typical wet, cool, and hot seasons, however as time goes on, the seasons are at risk of blending into a prolonged heat waves. This increases not only makes citizens suffer extreme temperatures more often, but causes farms and agricultural land to rely on more water in cultivation in order to stay fertile. Farms in Thailand also used to methods of burning down old crops to reintegrate their nutrients into the soil, but this causes for more smog and a harder time for citizens to adjust to higher temperatures due to poor air quality. Not only does this create a visible smog for many months of the year which Thai people refer to as "burning season," but it also adds to the amount of emissions being released by an already heavily affected by climate change country. While farmers can combat the extra hot days with extra water, shades, and more adjustment for their crops, but their country also suffers from frequent bouts of droughts. Although I do not believe that droughts are one of their
biggest issues yet, with the continuous increase in temperatures, droughts have also become more and more frequent, and will likely continue to do so. Managing temperatures will be a main goal of Thailands government and climate control teams for years to come. 

    As their is much concern for the dangerously high temperatures, there is also much threat to the coast of Thailand, as erosion, and coastal hazards have taken 22% of Thailands Coastline over their history as a country. As the coast is typically made of soft sediments with high densities of the population, sea level has been seen rising at rates much higher than the worldwide annual average. There are a variety of reasons as to why the coast is deteriorating so much faster than other countries including once again, climate change. The country of Thailand is prone to coastal hazards every now and then such as tsunamis and typhoons which in recent years have not been happening more frequently, nut more harshly. Storm surges are seen devastating Thai villages after initial hazards have passed, as well as foundational damage to many structures supporting large numbers of families and businesses. The economic damage from the after surges of these coastal storms is one of the largest tolls taken on the Thailand Royal Government. Not only do the surges hurt coastal towns but flash flooding caused by monsoons(a type of rain storm common in Thailand) leading to even more damage and danger to the people as well as the physical capital on the coastlines such as houses, businesses, harbors, roads, and more. All of these losses are hard for communities and local governments to help regain economic stability from, but avoidance of these natural events is essentially impossible. 

    These two hazards can be hard to prevent, but mitigation of the after effects and new systems/infrastructures to help accommodate natural processes can benefit the countries chances of adapting to these issues. First off, the country should be taking as big of steps as possible to try minimizing the amount of emissions allowed to be released each year. I think a big part of this could be to end Thailands "burning season" and force farmers to find a new way to cultivate their land and keep it full of nutrients. If Thailand as to install this as a new policy or law, there would no longer be heavy smog on top of already extreme heat days for those living near agriculture farms or Bangkok. This also would help the issue of coastline erosion over time because of how the exponential growth of the erosion and sinking have being mostly accredited to climate change growth. I also believe Thailand would need to strongly persuade neighboring countries to also look into their climate regulations and restrictions in order to slow the effects of climate change. Other things Thailand could be doing to help aid the coastal erosion and hazards could be to continue building more nature adapted infrastructures. This just means incorporating nature into construction in order to keep the integrity of the foundation upon where you are building. It also means keeping water systems simpler and more environment friendly. The government also could begin the installation of more mangrove fields to dispute the strength of the waves on Thailands shore and slow erosion that way.  While there are a few things that could be done to prevent extreme damages, when it comes to coastal hazards it is more important for governments to be prepared for when something happens and not trying to stop it from happening. This basically means when the storms and storm surges that cause flooding and coastal damage, evacuation routes are in place and known, rescue teams are available, communication is aided, and emergency dispatch is ready for injured victims. 

    My primary target would have to be the south coast of Thailand because of how much more harsh the storm surges and flooding can be due to the countries proximity to the Ring of Fire. I would focus my efforts down here because when it comes to extreme temperatures, it should already be a collective effort amongst all citizens and governments. However, the coastal hazards only affect hose who live on the coast and others may not wish to see those needs met before their needs, but the coast hold so much culture and rich history that losing it would also be a crime. I would specifically look at all the littorals where there are cement seawalls in place, and replace as many as possible with mangrove forrest to help with coastal erosion and combat climate change at the same time. Specifically, I would want to work in larger cities like Bangkok because of how much natural development could be done in areas like such. With large amounts of people and little space to build, it is important for the larger coastal cities to really pride themselves on building more nature adaptable infrastructure. This means creating less forced water storage solutions, allowing for some building to incorporate plants and botany in order to increase air quality, and more just to improve quality of life, and decrease risks in face of an emergency. 

    If I were to ever move to Thailand, I would likely be very biased due to the fact that my father lives in
Chiang Rai, and also move to the mountainous city. Although, I do not believe this would be a bad decision in terms of geological hazards because the mountains in Thailand are not typically prone to many hazards besides the nationwide monsoons and occasional lightning. Personally I think this is a good decision because I get to avoid the fear of random coastal hazards sweeping me into the ocean, and I get a decent flow of wind to combat the continuously increasing Thailand temperatures. At my dads house there seems to be plenty of hills or mountain shade to avoid being in much direct sunlight if I ever chose to spend a day outside, however some areas are still busy with little air conditioning and I would preferably avoid those areas. I think this area is a good mix of somewhat flat land for the use of small farms, but also is surrounded by mountains containing many trees which not only adds to aesthetic pleasure but air quality! 

A view from Chiang Rai

References:

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/thailand-at-risk-of-facing-prolonged-hot-weather-post283712.vnp

https://www.unicef.org/thailand/press-releases/over-10-million-children-affected-high-heat-thailand-unicef

https://urbanland.uli.org/sustainability/bangkok-the-sinking-city-faces-severe-climate-challenges

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU22/EGU22-2026.html#:~:text=Coastal%20erosion%20and%20flooding%20affect,of%20Natural%20Resources%20and%20Environment%29.

https://www.preventionweb.net/news/erosion-eats-away-land-along-22-percent-thai-coastline

https://www.mekongeye.com/2023/09/11/thailand-communities-tackle-rising-sea/

https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/photos/a.10151714100817050/10158273800712050/?type=3