33
Table 4.1. Income of Phuket Department of Provincial Administration
2004 2005
2006 2007
Agriculture 4,886 4,945
5,529 5,788
Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry 1,642
1,947 2,402
2,537 Fishing 3,244
2,998 3,127
3,251
Non-Agriculture 50,076 45,427
51,599 56,268
Mining and Quarrying 8
Manufacturing 2,037 2,271
2,394 2,556
Electricity, Gas and Water Supply 1,355
1,296 1,460
1,574 Construction 2,457
2,925 2,927
2,999 Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor
Vehicles, Motorcycles and Personal and Household Goods
4,603 5,089
6,043 6,275
Hotels and Restaurants 25,785
20,766 22,000
23,880 Transport, Storage and Communications
6,614 5,174
7,887 9,173
Financial Intermediation 1,459
1,660 1,924
2,176 Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities
1,424 1,516
1,713 1,923
Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security
1,155 1,227
1,306 1,432
Education 993 1,172
1,519 1,673
Health and Social Work 821
923 990
1,127 Other Community, Social and Personal
Services Activities 1,318
1,359 1,388
1,430 Private Households with Employed Persons
48 49
49 51
Gross Provincial Product GPP 54,962
50,371 57,128
62,055 GPP Per capita Baht
201,339 180,439
200,765 214,621
Population 1,000 persons 273
279 285
289
4.4.3 Climate
Phuket climate is characterized by two seasons. The hot season starts in December and ends in March, with a daily mean temperature average of 28.4
°C and 40mm monthly average of rainfall amount. The rainy season begins in April and lasts until November, with rainfall
peaks in May up to 320mm and September up to 400mm. During this season the temperature is comprised between 32
°C for the highest and 23.8°C for the minimum. The daily average temperature during the year is comprised between 23
°C and 34°C.
34 The monthly normal as calculated from the monthly mean of different temperatures during
the period from 1980 to 2008 is given in Figure 4.11. Being a coastal station the minimum temperature is slightly higher compared to that of northern stations particularly in winter.
Figure 4.11 . Monthly mean normal of temperature; Tmax, Tmin, mean Temperature, Ext. Tmax
and Ext. Tmin obtained from the data 1980 to 2008 over Phuket Source: Thailand Meteorological Dept.
With respect to monthly normal rainfall it is found that September and October are the peak months followed by August, May, July and June Figure 4.12a. The peak no. of rainy days and
the observation of highest rainfall in a day more than 7 cmday is reported mainly during September and October Figure 4.12ac.
35
Figure 4.12. Normal monthly mean rain parameters over Phuket from 1980 to 2008. a total rain
b number of rainy days and c maximum rain in 1 day Source: Thailand Meteorological Dept.
36
4.4.4 Climate hazard and extreme events
The coastline of the island is continuously exposed to sea erosion and has to cope with sudden and disastrous events, such as tsunami tidal wave. The 26 December 2004 the
earthquake in the Sumatra Island created a massive tsunami tidal wave, which devastated the Andaman Coast. Phuket suffered from disastrous loss of lives, assets and natural resources.
13,065 people died or disappeared during the event; 402 residences were totally destroyed; 550 partially. The utility and facility systems of the island were heavily damaged. In total the
overall damages cost more than 13,000.54 million Bahts Strategy for Provincial Development Unit, Phuket Governor’s Office and National Economic and Social
Development Board. Strategic plan has been developed to curb the potential impacts of such disasters.
Phuket is also very much exposed to irreversible damages on its coral reefs due to high concentration of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere that tends to increase the sea
temperature. Reef-building corals are a part of a rich ecosystem that provides resources for the coastal populations. They also serve as buffer against strong waves that erode coastlines
during storms. Currently the coral cover is declining at the rate of one to two per cent annually due to destructive fishing, tourism, sedimentation caused by coastal development,
eutrophication due to untreated water run-off, dredging and climate change. According to Phuket Marine Biological Centre PMBC, Phuket coastline is seriously endangered by all
these interlinked dynamics.
According to the Thailand Meteorological Department, the southern part of Thailand is relatively exposed to high risk of tropical storms and typhoon. On top of high-speed winds
that can damage the infrastructure, heavy rainfall due to the topography of the area can lead to flooding and contribute to destabilize the slopes. In fact one of the disasters Phuket has to
increasingly cope with is landslide occurrence. Uncontrolled human settlements help weaken the slopes and heavy rainfalls help trigger landslides in the zone. The tropical climate
participates thereby to the instability of the slopes and as climate change interacts with rainfall events, triggering more intense and more frequent rain amount, landslides are meant
to occur and affect more people more frequently.
Surrounded by mountains Patong area is especially prone to landslide as about 20 of the area has high to moderate susceptibility to landslide. The area is heavily prone to risk; first
the populations living in the toe of the mountain are located within the landslide prone area, while the populations living in the plain area are exposed to flood risk. Adaptation project
towards landslide risk mitigation has started to be implemented in the zone.
4.5 Samut Sakhon
