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6.1.3 Muang Hat Yai
Due to its geographical location associated with unplanned urbanization and deforestation in upstream areas, Muang Hat Yai including the Municipality area has become extremely
vulnerable to extreme weather events. With its population density, increased volume of paved areas, commercial activities, the municipality area has all the characteristics that can magnify
the impacts of any type of flooding event big or small. There are settlements which are concentrated around canal network and such settlements occupy the reservation areas. This
has decreased substantially the carriage way capacity, possibility of its expansion, maintenance and in certain places even the continuity of such drainage canals. The population
expansion was caused by the migration of population from rural areas due to employment opportunities and also due to availability of other urban facilities such as better education
compared to other southern provinces of Thailand. To a certain degree this also can be a result of conflict situation and unrest within the neighboring provinces. Increased influx of
tourists from Malaysia has created additional opportunities and further development of commerce and business sector. Increasing trend has been observed in past years in the growth
of sectors such as fishery, agriculture and Agro-based industries.
High demand for land due to increased urbanization has created vulnerable situation for extreme weather events within Muang Hat Yai. Hat Yai Municipality which has undergone
more urbanization than other parts of Muang Hat Yai is prone to flooding, inundation and water logging due to its increased run off and depleted drainage system combined with heavy
annual rainfall events. Rapid unplanned urbanization aggravates the situation further. In fact the river U Ta Phao and Klong Toie are responsible for triggering regular flash floods during
the monsoon seasons. Serious flooding events occurred in 1988 and again in 2000 Figure 6.4. Triggered by torrential rains, the flooding of November 2000 has been described as one
of the worst natural disasters in the history of urban Thailand Charlchai et. al., 2004. Flood depths of two to three meters height caused 40 fatalities, thousands of injuries and severe
damages to property, livelihood, and lifelines, affecting drastically the economy of the city. More recently, in 2006 flooding also affected more than 200,000 people and paralyzed the
city for several days. During the period 2005- 2008 the total amount of loss reached 23,194,466 Baht. In addition the severely affected sectors within the municipality are
transportation, infrastructure, utility services and agriculture around 3,792 Rai of agricultural lands have been damaged within Muang Hat Yai drought is also a substantial problem. The
total affected from drought is around 2,137 people i.e. 613 households between 2005 and 2008.
The urbanization trend of Muang Hat Yai is rapid during the past decade. Due to ever increasing demand for land for development, shelter and settlement, hazard prone areas have
been encroached by urban expansion. In the direct surroundings of the municipality, the urban settlements are rapidly expanding into four neighboring townships and municipalities.
The environmental degradation characterized by high peak of air and water pollution is deepening. The high concentration of Particulate matters PM10, from the sources of man-
made origin such as burning of fossil fuels, waste discharges from power plants and industrial process, add and contribute to deterioration of the quality of air within the city,
increasing the potential for health hazards. In July 2002 and in February 2003 several
85 consecutive days were reported as periods of worsening of air quality, with some days
considered to be exceeding the limits established by Thai environmental authorities.
Related to health issues, Songkhla province had to cope up with a peak of malaria cases in year 2007. This may be a result of combination of complex situations firstly due to flooding
and secondly due to deterioration of overall health services quantitatively as well as qualitatively and difficulties in having timely access to medical facilities in the area owing to
terrorism widespread in the three neighboring provinces.
Figure 6.4. Damages and destruction in Hat Yai Source: Municipality
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6.1.4 Muang Phuket
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