Thailand Expedition 2023
Thailand’s economy relies heavily on its marine ecosystems for fishing, shrimp aquaculture, and the tourism industry. These ecosystems, as well as the livelihoods of those who depend on them, are increasingly threatened by climate change, overfishing, unregulated coastal development, and mass tourism. Recent attempts to mitigate these effects include the building of artificial reefs and restoration of mangroves. Thailand’s eastern coasts are made up by the Gulf of Thailand and the western coasts by the Andaman Sea. Both coasts consist of highly diverse flora and fauna in varied marine habitats, such as seagrass beds, coral reefs, and mangroves (Lange et al., 2019).
The Gulf of Thailand (Figure 1) is a semi-enclosed inlet of the South China Sea containing economically vital areas of aquaculture. It is bordered by Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Schofield, 2008). Tides in the Gulf of Thailand are diurnal, with a frequency of one cycle a day (Cui, Fang and Wu, 2019). The Gulf has an area of 320,000 km2, a maximum depth of 83m, and is impacted by a significant inflow of freshwater from rivers. It is a two-layered shallow water estuary with a colder layer that is high in salinity.
Thailand Expedition 2022
The Gulf of Thailand is a semi enclosed inlet of the South China Sea bordered by Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Its coast is characterized by long beaches with lagoons and bays. The total coral reef area in the Gulf of Thailand is about 121 square kilometres and they tend to develop on the east and north coasts where they are protected from the southwest monsoon. The coral reefs in the Gulf are highly under-studied and recent reports suggest that only 5% of Thailand's reefs are in good condition.
​
The island of Koh Tao lies 65 kilometres off the western coast of mainland Thailand. The island is a popular tourist destination. It has been the subject of several investigations into coral reef threats. Koh Tao’s coral reefs appear to be highly damaged by tourism, where rates of coral damage and coral disease are highest at sites with the highest frequency of divers. Koh Phangan Island is a slightly larger island located in the same Samui-archipelago as Koh Tao. It is also a popular tourist destination, experiencing frequent dive tourism.
​
Approximately one-fifth of the over 800 species of amphibian known to inhabit Southeast Asian are threatened, and 36% are too poorly studied to include in this statistic. In what is being termed an ‘amphibian conservation and biodiversity crisis’, some of the main drivers include the large proportion of undiagnosed diversity and understudied amphibian species, the highest levels of deforestation on the planet, and over-harvesting. Whilst amphibians in Thailand are generally thought to be well studied by scientists, basic information including diversity, distribution and conservation status remain limited and unclear in many areas.
​
In 2019, the first expedition to Thailand was established. Their marine based research on targeted shark fishing as well as diver intensity and sedimentation levels in relation to coral habitats was successfully carried out in Phuket and in the surrounding Andaman Sea. This year, a team of 8 undergraduate students are continuing their legacy of marine research by designing and conducting two scientific projects on coral reef health, building on research done by the 2019 expedition, as well as starting a terrestrial project focusing on amphibian diversity that aims to add to existing research and aid future Thailand expeditions. All three projects will be based in Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.
Project details can be found under 'Projects' and team information can be found under 'Meet The Team'.
​
​
Seaweed Expedition 2021
The upper layer, consisting of freshwater from precipitation and rivers, is lower in salinity. As a vital economic area for fishing, overfishing has been exacerbated in the Gulf of Thailand with the development of trawler fishing leading to biomass decreasing to less than 10% of what it was in just 35 years (Lin, 2015). The Gulf, as well as the Andaman Sea, are heavily affected by monsoons and floods (Lange et al., 2019).
​The coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand are highly under-studied (Stuhldreier et al., 2015). Total coral reef area in the Gulf is about 121 square kilometres. Most of these reefs are fringing reefs and, in the Gulf, they tend to develop in the east and north as here they are protected from the southwest monsoon. The reefs are adversely affected by both natural and anthropogenic impacts. In the “Reefs at Risk” 2008 report the reefs ranged from very healthy/healthy (about 35%) to fair (30%) and poor/very poor (35%). A more recent 2016 report found that only 5% of reefs in Thailand were in a good condition. ​
​
​
This is likely due to an intense coral bleaching event in 2010 (Lange et al., 2019). Beyond this, the Gulf of Thailand also reported mass bleaching events in 1998 and 2016. The impacts of these bleaching events varied, with the 2010 event affecting the Koh Samui reefs more than that of 1998 (Suttacheep, 2019).
The islands within the Samui Archipelago (including Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao - Figure 1) experience disturbance including pollution, notably sewage pollution; overfishing; and tourism including snorkel and SCUBA-based tourism (Stuhldreier et al., 2015). Koh Phangan is a popular tourist destination, experiencing frequent dive and snorkel tourism (Stuhldreier, 2012) although, it is not as popular as neighbouring Koh Tao which is famed for its dive sights (PADI, 2022). Due to the recently mentioned bleaching events, coral reefs of Koh Tao are going through a period of change in community structure. The corals are highly susceptible to predation, particularly by Drupella sea snails1 (Mehrotra, 2020). The reefs of Koh Tao have received a large amount of scientific interest, with studies conducted on bleaching, predator outbreaks, the impacts of tourism, and disease pressure, while the reefs of Koh Phangan have received far less academic interest (Allchurch, 2021), with many marine publications co-authored by researchers at the Centre for Oceanic Research and Education: Southeast Asia (COREsea) (COREsea, 2022).
After an uncertain year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 expedition being cancelled, the fate of the 2021 expedition was in the balance. We initially planned to go to Phuket in the summer months of 2021, so spent the end of 2020 completing grant applications and planning fundraising schemes. By January 2021, the state of international travel was so uncertain that we had to postpone. However, we could not bare to cancel our plans altogether, and so we will be spending three weeks over the summer of 2021 a little closer to home, conducting research along Scotland's west coast.
With a third of the global population of grey seals, 23 species of the world's 82 whales and dolphins, and 43% of all European breeding seabirds, Scotland's coasts are magnificent habitats, accounting for 61% of UK seas and 10% of Europe's coastline. To protect this abundance of wildlife, the waves hide some of the finest marine habitats in Europe: rocky reefs, sea grass, maerl beds, and coldwater coral reefs to name a few.
​
Fishing and aquaculture are vital both culturally and economically in Scotland, but they can have more negative than positive impacts on marine environments. Aquaculture involves the farming or culturing of fish; molluscs; crustaceans; and, perhaps the most unexpected, seaweed.
​
The seaweed industry within the UK is small compared to its status in many Asian nations, where it is a mature multi-billion dollar industry that produces tens of millions of tonnes of seaweed a year. Not only is Seaweed considered a 'superfood' and a key component in cosmetics, biomaterials, and biofuels, but seaweed provides food and shelter to marine life.
​
On behalf of the University of Glasgow and the Exploration society, a team of six students, from a range of degree paths, will be undertaking two research projects, investigating the impacts of seaweed farms on benthic organisms and the distribution of scallop larvae through the water column at multiple sites around Skye and near Oban.
Thailand Expedition 2020
The 2020 Thailand expedition was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to be back for a 2021 expedition.
Thailand Expedition 2019
Thailand is considered a biodiversity hotspot in its region of the world. Boasting nearly 1000 bird species; 15,000 plant species; 1721 terrestrial vertebrate species; 2000 marine fish species; 11,900 marine invertebrate species; 2000 marine mollusc species; 1000 orchids species, 3000 fungi species; 294 mammal species; 360+ reptile species; 160+ amphibian species; 570 species of freshwater fish. As well as 7000 known species of arthropod – which is believed to be only 10% of the actual arthropod total in Thailand. It also hosts 1700 globally threatened species. The species richness and potential for conservation makes Thailand an ideal location for scientific research.
Phuket island is situated in the south of Thailand and joined by bridge to the mainland. It was first established by Indian merchants in the 1st century BC and has since been influenced by many different cultures including the sino-portugese which can be seen in the architecture of Phuket Town, Chinese, Malay and other countries on the surrounding borders. In the 1970's Phuket began to see western tourism influx and since then has developed into a popular tourist destination, which now reaches up to 3 million visitors per year.
​
2019 will mark the first year that the University of Glasgow and Exploration Society will send a team of 8 students, from various degree paths, on expedition to Phuket, Thailand. The team will focus on marine research in its first year with an emphasis on collecting baseline data to form a platform for future expedition research projects.
​
The team will be undertaking studies in benthic coral composition and abundance and fish population structure and abundance found at different dive sites surrounding Phuket Island. A third study will examine the shark fishing industry and its effect on the local populations.
