The Future of Phuket

The tropical landscape of Phuket is beautiful and ever changing. Including the surrounding islands, there is a clear separation of the island compositions, Phuket being manly composed of granite and its nearby smaller islands are made of limestone karsts, most of which can be dated some 350 million years.
It is hard to hypothesize if any of the changes in Phuket could be attributed to the natural changes within the environment and surrounding climate or if the damage that is being done to Phuket and causing its deterioration is caused by the excessive reliance on tourism to fuel the countries economy and the government's and local neglect for infrastructure and general preservation of the island. The air and water pollution can be associated with the constant boat tours during tourist season as well as the reliance on taxi cabs and tuk tuk as means of transportation on the mainland.
In order for Phuket to sustain itself, as well as reaming the main rice export for the region, as much as 60% of the island has been deforested and cultivated for rubber plantations or rice paddies. The
deforestation leads to expedited soil erosion and water contamination as a result of sediment being deposited in the rivers. Thailand has less than 1/3 of its water supply suitable for human consumption. The beaches are constant causes for concern where trash and pollution is often deposited. In June, tens of thousands of dead crabs washed ashore on Pa Lai beach. If one needed more convincing that Phuket is on a self destructing path, we need only look at the coral reefs that can be found in nearby waters. Coral reefs lose their color completely due to stress in their salt water homes.

An image of the dead sea crabs that washed ashore o World Oceans Day this past summer

Climate change is very much real and the Hospitality and Tourism business of Thailand is going to be the most effected. There have been numerous floods in recent years and strong monsoon winds in the Hat Yai area. The usually predictable rainfall and change of seasons has been anything but in recent years. "A recent article in the Bangkok Post identified that a Chulalongkorn University researcher (Jarupongsakul, 2010) found that sand erosion could cause Pattaya Beach to vanish in the next five years and the situation is critical." Could Phuket be at risk of eroding away completely within the next 10,000 years?

Ban Na San was once a beach but now the contaminated water has washed away the shoreline

Unfortunately, I would conclude that Phuket would not be around long enough to evaluate its condition in 10,000 years or more. The never ending tourism component is the life blood and the destructive force that is Phuket.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Thailand
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/aboutcoraldiseases/a/aacoralbleach.htm
http://www.thaisurfrider.com/climate-change-and-the-environment-in-thailand%e2%80%94what%e2%80%99s-going-on-with-the-weather/

Phuket Climate

Phuket has a fairly predictable climate and weather pattern. It is generally warm year round with temperatures typically ranging from 77°-93°F. There are two seasoning that are recognized as the dry season and the rainy season. The tropical monsoons common to the area dictate the seasons by the directions winds are blowing. During the dry season the winds blow from the Northeast for half the year, and opposite, the rainy season's winds blow from the Southwest.
The dry season lasts from December to March which causes a slight drop on temperature. This is the height of the tourist season.
Beginning in April and lasting to the end of May, there is a Transition Season which is a short time period of unpredictability as the monsoon winds change and the temperatures rise. Vice versa, there is another Transition Season (October through the end of November) when the unpredictability of rains and temperature is due to the changing winds and change of seasons.
The rainy season lasts from June until October and is the time in which a majority Phuket's 100in of rainfall is accumulated. This time is humid, hot and wet and is less popular as a tourist destination because of this.

Average Rainfall in Phuket:

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
mm	38	24	55	133	324	289	295	272	379	340	181	59	199
inches	1.5	1.0	2.2	5.3	12.8	11.4	11.6	10.7	15.0	13.4	7.1	2.3	7.9

This graph allows one to easily see the dramatic difference of rainfall between the dry season (Dec-March) and rainy season (June-Nov)

Average Temperatures in Phuket

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
°C	26.9	27.6	28.3	28.5	28.1	28.3	27.8	28.0	27.2	27.1	27.0	26.7	27.6
°F	80.4	81.7	82.9	83.3	82.6	82.9	82.0	82.4	81.0	80.8	80.6	80.1	81.7

 This graph shows the consistency of Phuket's temperatures.


This graph is ideal because it shows multiple aspects of Phuket's climate as
it varies through out the year/season.

Images:http://www.phuket.net/visit-phuket/about/info/climate/
http://www.phuket.climatemps.com/

Information: http://www.phuket.com/island/weather.htm
http://www.thailand-weather.com/weather/phuket-thailand-weather-in-november.html

Water Weathered Wonders

Being an island, it goes without saying the Phuket is subject to various forms of chemical and physical weathering. If one were to travel by boat or kayak just to the south east of Phuket, you would arrive at Koh Panak a large island with mountainous caves and various rock formations, peaks and cliffs. Within one such cave is a limestone organ that can only be reached by swimming in at low tide.


Koh Panak, Phang Nga Bay, Thailand.
This limestone is no longer growing since its water source is depleted.

Phuket and the surrounding islands are predominantly limestone which allows the water surround them to constantly change their shape. In some instances the tunnels that are scattered throughout this area collapse onto themselves creating a dry hong, exposing them to the sun.

Throughout Phuket you can find hongs, naturally made caves and grottoes.
Dry hongs are made by when cave roof collapse onto themselves. 

Stalactites are common along the exposed sides of the island.

The mountains that form Phuket, in this case Koh Panak, are sedimentary rock, often times covered in moss and limestone build up. Because of the general softness of this rock, the rising and falling of water levels causes the dissolution of the limestone and beautiful caves are made. The change in water levels is due to Thailand's two dominant seasons. Monsoons season brings heavy rain from the Indian Ocean from May to October, and from November to April it is much drier. The extended rainy season deposits salt water along the entire region leading to the altering of the mountain scales.

 

http://thebeachfrontclub.com/guide/koh-panak-phang-nga-bay-thailand-island-of-caves-hongs-tunnels

http://www.climateandweather.com/weather-in-Thailand

 

Geography and Natural Disasters

The island province of Phuket is mostly granite and sedimentary rock. The topography is nearly 70% mountain ranges, with the highest point being nearly 1700 feet above sea level. The west coast of the island is predominantly mountainous and composed of granite deposits. Koh Racha Yai and Koh Hee (Coral Island) are among these islands. Then there are the limestone islands such as the Phi Phi islands and Phang Nga Bay to the south and northeast.

Phi Phi Island off the coast of Phuket. The limestone ridges can be worn away by the water near its bases. These islands often have what look like floating rock formations, narrow at the bottom and wider at the top.

pmyaasia.com, welovekohlipe.com

In 2004, Phuket experienced one of the only natural disasters to occur in the area. The earthquake was experienced in Sumatra, measuring a 9.1 on the Richter Scale. The quake itself was not felt in Phuket and gave no warning that Thailand, Sri Lanka and surrounding areas were in danger. Phuket is geographically stable in that there is only a minor fault line that does run under the main island Phuket. In April 2012 Phuket experienced the very unusual event of an earthquake of its own. It was only 4.4 on the Richter scale. No serious damage was done and this is the only earthquake to directly hit Phuket in modern history.

Patong Beach was struck by the tsunami in 2004. An estimated 230,000 were killed in the earthquake and tsunami that followed.
http://www.phuket-town.com/tsunami.html
http://www.knowphuket.com/geography.htm
http://gothailand.about.com/od/planatrip/a/tsunami.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phuket_Province

Introduction

Li-hó! That is hello! in Taiwanese. My name is Sara Warren I am a history major, minoring in secondary education. My goal is to become a high school history teacher, transporting my students to a world unlike the one they currently reside in. I want to make history a living, changing thing. I have always been interested in geography as it pertains to history, especially ancient civilizations and how nature and the geographic climate morph ruins and components of old cities.
I have chosen to study the physical geography of Thailand's largest island, Phuket. As a history major it would have been an obvious choice to select ancient Rome or the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. I chose the road less traveled. I am excited to explore Phuket province because Thailand is rich in culture and beautiful landscapes. Having been born and raised in the desert landscape of Mesa, Arizona I like the idea of exploring a more plush landscape and ancient location rich in culture and history.

 

This is the breathtaking phang nag bay along the Phuket border.