Original Article | 2009, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 213-227
Tropical cyclone disasters in the Gulf of Thailand
Suphat Vongvisessomjai
pp. 213 - 227
Abstract
The origin of tropical cyclones in the South China Sea is over a vast deep sea, southeast of the Philippines. The severe tropical cyclones in summer with northerly tracks attack the Philippines, China, Korea and Japan, while the moderate ones in the rainy season with northwesterly tracks pass Vietnam, Laos and northern Thailand. In October, November and December, the tropical cyclones are weakened and tracks shift to a lower latitude passing the Gulf of Thailand. Tropical cyclone disasters in the Gulf of Thailand due to strong winds causing storm surges and big waves or heavy rainfall over high mountains in causing floods and land slides result in moderate damages and casualties. Analyses are made of six decades of data of tropical cyclones from 1951-2006 having averaged numbers of 3 and 13 in Thailand and the South China Sea respectively. Detailed calculation of surges and wave heights of the 5 disastrous tropical cyclones in the Gulf of Thailand reveal that the Upper Gulf of Thailand with a limited fetch length of about 100 km in north/ south direction and about 100 km width in the east/west direction, resulted in a limited maximum wave height of 2.3-2.5 m and maximum storm surge height of 1.2 m generated by Typhoon Vae (1952), while the east coast, with longer fetch length but still limited by the existence of its shoreline, resulted in an increased maximum wave height of 4 m and maximum storm surge height of 0.6 m in the Upper Gulf of Thailand generated by Typhoon Linda (1997). These are the Probable Maximum Cyclones here. The southern shoreline, with unlimited fetch length on the east by tropical cyclones approaching from the South China Sea, generated maximum wave height of 6-11 m by Typhoon Gay (1989), resulting in more casualties and damages. Note that storm surges on the southern shorelines with steep slopes are small due to the short distance of shallow shorelines in receiving wind stresses for piling up sea levels. These disasters can be alleviated from known characteristics of tropical cyclones and through proper warning before coming to the Gulf of Thailand.
