HKU Landscape Undergrads Travel to Northern Thailand
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HKU Landscape undergrads traveled to northern Thailand in early March for their final-semester studio on regional landscape planning. During the 10-day trip, students traveled more than 500-kilometers overland to document sites planned for hydropower, interbasin water transfer, spoil disposal areas, flow regulation check dams for reservoir construction, river dredging, access roads, and high-voltage transmission lines. Students also visited case study sites of urban reforestation in Bangkok, rural reforestation in one of Southeast Asia's most extensive chronosequences of tropical forest plots near Chiang Mai, and a vast network of community-based fish conservation zones spanning parts of Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, and Tak provinces. Students learned of the complexity of large-scale development and conservation project planning and of the challenges—technologically, politically, and physically—in working off-the-grid in remote and mountainous sites.
The students and their instructors professor Ashley Scott Kelly and Yuan Zhuang thank the People's Network of the Yuam, Ngao, Moei and Salween River Basin; the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN); The Border Consortium (TBC); International Rivers; the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC); the Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU) of Chiang Mai University; landscape architecture practices Northforest Studio and TK Studio and academics from Chulalongkorn and Chiang Mai Universities; and generous support from numerous friends in the region. Wish the students the best of luck designing their studio projects in the second half of the term.
HKU Landscape BA(LS) students at the boundary of one of over 50 community-based fish conservation zones in the Ngao River basin. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Overview of the watershed where a planned reservoir, hydropower dam, interbasin transfer pumping station, check dams, and access roads could impact ecological and cultural landscapes on a major tributary of the Salween River. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Students at one of six planned spoil disposal areas for the construction of a 60-kilometer water transfer tunnel and supporting infrastructure. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Students learning about fish ecology and community management of the Ngao River, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Students within the planned reservoir area and tunnel intake location where a Buddhist ceremony was recently held to protect the river. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
HKU Landscape BA(LS) students meet with the Southeast Asia campaigns director for International Rivers. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Meeting with The Border Consortium (TBC), the NGO coordinating refugee support in Thailand, at their offices in Bangkok. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Meeting with the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) at their headquarters in Bangkok. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Students assist the drone survey of a forest plot with the Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU), Chiang Mai University. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Confluence of the Ngao and Khong Rivers at Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, and Tak provinces, Thailand. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
Confluence of the Yuam and Ngao Rivers where a 20-kilometer-long reservoir and intake station are planned for an interbasin transfer tunnel. By Ashley Scott Kelly, 2025.
