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<br />Mrs. Subongkot Jamikorn <br />Assistant Professor <br />Department of Statistics <br />Kasetsart University, Bangkok <br /> <br />Jr. Lt. Visit Rasmidatta (Royal Thai Navy) <br />Chief, Agrometeorological Analysis Sub-Division <br />Meteorological Department, Bangko~: <br /> <br />3. Members of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bangkok <br /> <br />Dr. John Eriksson <br />Director <br /> <br />Mr. Lee Twentyman <br />Deputy Director <br /> <br />Mr. William Knowland <br />Environment and Natural Resources Advisor <br /> <br />4. Members of Non-Governmental Organizations <br /> <br />Dr. Anat Arbhabhirama <br />President <br />Thailand Development Research Institute <br />Bangkok <br /> <br />The statements made in this assessment are the professional opinions of the <br />authors and do not represent the official position of the Government of the <br />United States of America. <br /> <br />B. Climate and Water Resources <br /> <br />1. Climate <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />The climate of Thailand is tropical and dominated by the Asian monsoons <br />which produce distinct wet and dry sea,sons. During half the year <br />(May-August) warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean flows across <br />Thailand from the southwest, causing the rainy season. In the cooler <br />dry season (November-February) the monsoon rever'ses and relatively cold <br />and dry air moves clockwise out of central Asia and across Thailand from <br />the northeast. The months between the monsoons (March-April and <br />September-October) form transition seasons. These periods are <br />illustrated 1n fig. 1.1 and the airflow, cloud, and precipitation <br />characteristics of each period are described in table I-1. <br /> <br />The southwest monsoon (6 months) produces convective storms that account <br />for 60 percent (South) to 80 percent (North) of the annual precipita- <br />tion. Isolated convective showers andl thunderstorms occur in the hot <br />"sumner" intermonsoonal period, but the total rainfall is not great. <br /> <br />Even during the wet season, rainfall is not evenly distributed from <br />month to month. Many locales in Thailand experience: (1) a rainfall <br /> <br />3 <br />