Abstract
The Gulf of Thailand has been a major marine resource for Thai people for a long time. However, recent industrialization and
community development have exerted considerable stress on the marine environments and provoked habitat degradation. The
following pollution problems in the Gulf have been prioritized and are discussed in details: (1) Untreated municipal and industrial
waste water are considered to be the most serious problems of the country due to limited waste water treatment facilities in the area.
(2) Eutrophication is an emerging problem in the gulf of Thailand. Fortunately, the major species of phytoplankton that have been
reported as the cause of red tide phenomena were non-toxic species such as Noctiluca sp. and Trichodesmium sp. (3) Few problems
have been documented from trace metals contamination in the Gulf of Thailand and public health threat from seafood contamination
does not appear to be significant yet. (4) Petroleum hydrocarbon residue contamination is not a problem, although a few
spills from small oil tankers have been recorded. A rapid decrease in mangrove forest, coral reefs, and fisheries resources due to
mismanagement is also discussed.
2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.