Geography, Climate, Flora, Fauna & Environmental Protecion in Thailand.
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Geography, Climate, Flora & Fauna in Thailand
- Thailand Information -
(The location of Thailand in Indochina)
Map for the location of Thailand in Indochina and in the Gulf of Thailand
Thailand's Geographical Position
Thailand, previously called Siam, is in South East Asia. In the West and Northwest it borders on Myanmar, the former Birma, also called Burma. In the North an East Thailand borders on Laos in the Southeast on Cambodia, in the South on Malaysia. The biggest part of Thailand is on the Indochina Peninsula, the South is part of the Malakka Peninsula to which mainly the northern part of Malaysia and Singapore belongs to. The southern part of Thailand is framed in the West by the Andaman Sea and in the East by the Gulf of Thailand and goes up to the Malayan border. The surface area of Thailand is 513.115 square-kilometres and is thus about one and half times bigger than Germany.
Thailand’s landscape is very versatile, in the North and West are some parallel high mountain ranges in North-South orientation, in the North-East is the barren Khorat-Plateau – also called Isaan -, in the narrow South the landscape is stamped by mountains and kilometre long sandy coasts. Even here the highest elevation, the Khao Luang, reaches 1790 m.
The highest mountains of Thailand are in the border region of Myanmar with the almost 3000 m high Doi Sothep in the fore. A further mountain system runs through the centre of Thailand, also in North-South direction, running from north-east of Bangkok to the east towards Cambodia. In the north-east of it there is Khorat-Plateau taking up about one third of the land area of Thailand. In the East it is bordered by the Mekong, with about 4500 km largest river of Rear-India, being at the same time the border to Laos. A up to 100 km wide alluvial plane, the Mae Nam Chao Phraya lowland, through which the main river of Thailand the Chao Phraya flows is located in between the central and the western mountains. This region is the most populous of Thailand and is flooded regularly during the rainy season.

Thailand's Climate

Thailand belongs to the always wet tropes mainly coined by the Monsoon. The North and Northeast has semi-humid dry-savannah climate with a wintry dry-season and generally little rainfall. In the Chao Phraya lowland and in the coastal areas tropical rainforest climate dominates.
From November until March the wind blows from north-east, from April to October from South-west. They then bring humid air from the Indian Ocean. The temperatures in Thailand vary only little throughout the year. In the annual average they are at about 26° C, in the upcountry they are, apart from the mountain regions, slightly higher as on the coasts. The average rainfall in Thailand is about 1.500 mm in the western, northern and central regions. In the Malakka peninsula region they are in between 2.500 and 4.000 mm, in Isaan only at maximal 1.300 mm. The most rain falls in summer among June and October.

Thailand's Flora and Fauna

Thailand has a multifaceted flora and fauna, however this biodiversity is heavily endangered. As during the 20th century still about 50 % of Thailand’s total area was forested it is in the meantime only about 20 %. Well 70 % of all plant species of Thailand are trees grown over by liana, moss and fern. As the trees only let pass little light to the ground, the forest soil, opposite to the public opinion, is not an impenetrable jungle. Simply clearings can be abundantly covered with vegetation. The fauna of the tropes is deemed to be one of the most richest in species in the world, thus amphibians, reptiles, numberless insects, snakes, monkeys and birds are found. Due to the increasing clearing the wildlife habitat for Thailand’s fauna indeed is circumcised dramatically. Also hunting contributes to ebbing the diversity of species, in the meantime already more than 100 species are endangered. By this the population of leopards and tigers goes back heavily, rhinos and tapirs are said to have been almost died out. Although Thailand has one of the highest fishing rates in the world, long term it probably cannot be kept. Many fish species are already heavily decimated and a great deal of the habitats in the wetlands of the coast and the upcountry were destroyed by the expanding crustacean- and fish farms.

Environmental Protection in Thailand

Meanwhile Thailand has signed several environmental contracts meant to protect endangered species, of the habitat ocean and tropical wood. Also were well about 13 % of the entire land- and sea-area transferred into nature reserves. If by this the grooving air-, ground- and water pollution can be curbed remains to be seen.
 

Sources: Microsoft Encarta Worldatlas 2001, Data Becker Encyclopedia 2002 and others.
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