1.
Cardamom Hills
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Not to be confused with Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. The Cardamom Hills are hills of southern India and part of the southern Western Ghats located in southeast Kerala and their name comes from the cardamom spice grown in much of the hills cool elevation, which also supports pepper and coffee. The Western Ghats, Periyar Sub-Cluster including the Cardamom Hills, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site, the Cardamom Hills central point is about 9°52′N 77°09′E. They cover about 2,800 km2 of mountainous terrain with deep valleys and it includes Idukki Dam and Mullaperiyar Dam. They conjoin the Anaimalai Hills to the northwest, the Palni Hills to the northeast, the crest of the hills form the boundary between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Anamudi in Eravikulam National Park, is the highest peak in western ghats, the hills experience average daily temperatures of 15 °C in winter to 31 °C in summer. The annual rainfall of 2,000 mm to 3,000 mm in Periyar decreases to less than 1,500 mm in the east in Srivilliputtur Wildlife Sanctuary, on the western side, two-thirds of the precipitation is received during the southwest monsoon from June to September. The areas also receive rainfall from the northeast monsoon and from pre-monsoon showers and these hills are made up largely of several contiguous protected areas intended to restrict human access, protect specific endangered species and preserve some of the still undeveloped forest biomes. The central part of the hills comprise the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary covering an area of 777 km2, the 350 km2 core zone of the sanctuary is the Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve. Periyar is an ecotourism destination. To the south of the Periyar Tiger Reserve are the forests of the Ranni, Konni. The Cardamom Hill Reserve is within the Cardamom Hills Idukki District and it comprises about 15,721 acres as per 1897 royal proclamation of the Kingdom of Travancore. But the extent of land in accordance with the boundaries of the notification is about 334 Sq miles. It is bordered by the Tamil Nadu border to the east, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary on the south, the Periyar River on the west, now it is situated in the Idukki District of Kerala. According to the Chief Secretary of the Government of Kerala, Cardamom Hill land is Government land under the control of the Revenue Department for more than a century. The total extent of the Cardamom Hill area was 1071.9746 km2 of which 568.6 km2 was assigned under various Land Assignment Rules. The balance of 503.38 km2 is leased to farmers for cardamom cultivation The CHR accounts for about 70 percent of the production of India. CHR contains The Cardamom Research Station, situated in the Pampadumpara village of Udumbanchola taluk and it is located on the eastern side of Kumily-Munnar road
2.
Nakhon Si Thammarat Range
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The Nakhon Si Thammarat Range is a mountain range on the Malay peninsula in southern Thailand, running in a north-south direction. This mountain chain is sometimes named Banthat Range, a name which is however also used to refer to the Chanthaburi mountain range. The main range of the peninsula begins along the east coast at about 10° 05′ north latitude on Ko Tao and it continues through Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui to the east coast mainland, east of Bandon Bay, and parallels the coast all the way into Malayan territory. The mountains are named after the town Nakhon Si Thammarat, located east of the range, the highest elevation is the 1835 m high Khao Luang. This mountain range is a part of the Tenasserim Hills system and it begins to the east of the Phuket Range, which runs in the same direction about 60 km further west. Between the ranges there are isolated peaks, the highest of which is 1,350 m high Khao Phanom Bencha, to the south it is continued by the Sankalakhiri Range. Several smaller rivers originate in the range, the Tapi River is the largest by far. Another relatively large river is the Trang River, several national parks are located in the mountain range. Tai Rom Yen National Park Khao Luang National Park Khao Nan National Park Namtok Yong National Park Khao Pu - Khao Ya National Park National Park Division
3.
Koh Kong Province
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Koh Kong is a province of Cambodia. The name means Kŏng Island Province, the province was called Patchanta Khirikhet from 1795 to 1904. Its tourist attractions include casinos and waterfalls, while an export processing zone, from 1795 to 1904 the area was under Siamese administration with the local name of Koh Kong. In 1904, the region and the city of Trat was ceded to French Indochina in exchange of French troop evacuation from Chanthaburi, yet, in 1907 Trat was returned back to Siam in exchange of the Siamese province of Inner Cambodia while Koh Kong remained part of French Cambodia. After Cambodia’s liberation from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Koh Kong province was quite under-populated, after the national government encouraged people to live in Koh Kong, there has been a net influx of people. It is estimated that the annual growth rate in Koh Kong is 16%. Koh Kongs towns have developed rapidly partially in response to pressures from Thailand. The province is subdivided into six districts and one city, the province is an increasingly popular gateway to Cambodia from Hat Lek in eastern Thailand, in part due to the reasonably direct access to the port and beach resort town of Sihanoukville. The border is at Cham Yeam, about 14 km from Koh Kong, traveling to Koh Kong has become an enjoyable journey, where bridges were built, the first stage in 2002. A landmark of Koh Kong was made possible by L. Y. P, group — the second longest bridge built in Cambodia. The 1, 900-meter crossing can be seen connecting provincial town of Koh Kong to Koh Kong Resort, the Koh Kong Website Koh Kong Provincial Resources Kirirom National Park, Cambodia Koh Kong Websites Very comprehensive adventure site in Tatai
4.
Phnom Aural
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Phnom Aural is the tallest peak in Cambodia. It is in the part of the Cardamom Mountains. To protect the biodiversity of the mountains, Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary was established and this mountain in located in Aoral District, Kampong Speu Province. List of Ultras of Southeast Asia Cardamom Mountains rain forests, by World Wide Fund for Nature Protected areas in Cambodia
5.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
6.
Cambodia
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Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practiced by approximately 95 percent of the population, the countrys minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams, and 30 hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic, the kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name Kambuja. The Indianized kingdom built monumental temples including Angkor Wat, now a World Heritage Site, after the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by its neighbours. In 1863 Cambodia became a protectorate of France which doubled the size of the country by reclaiming the north, the Vietnam War extended into the country with the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970, the king gave his support to his former enemies. Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission, the UN withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997 coup placed power solely in the hands of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian Peoples Party, important sociopolitical issues includes widespread poverty, pervasive corruption, lack of political freedoms, low human development, and a high rate of hunger. While per capita income remains low compared to most neighbouring countries, agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with strong growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade. Cambodia scored dismally in an annual index ranking the rule of law in 102 countries, placing 99th overall, Cambodia also faces environmental destruction as an imminent problem. The most severe activity in this regard is considered to be the countrywide deforestation, the Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge, which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer Kampuchea, Kampuchea is the shortened alternative to the countrys official name in Khmer, Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea. The Khmer endonym Kampuchea derives from the Sanskrit name Kambujadeśa, composed of देश, desa and कम्बोज, Kambujas, colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either Srok Khmer, meaning Khmers Land, or the slightly more formal Prateh Kampuchea, literally Country of Kampuchea. The name Cambodia is used most often in the Western world while Kampuchea is more used in the East. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of dates as of 6000 BC
7.
Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
8.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
9.
Geologic time scale
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The table of geologic time spans, presented here, agrees with the nomenclature, dates and standard color codes set forth by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Evidence from radiometric dating indicates that Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, the geology or deep time of Earth’s past has been organized into various units according to events which took place in each period. Older time spans, which predate the reliable record, are defined by their absolute age. Some other planets and moons within the Solar System have sufficiently rigid structures to have preserved records of their own histories, for example, Venus, Mars, dominantly fluid planets, such as the gas giants, do not preserve their history in a comparable manner. Apart from the Late Heavy Bombardment, events on other planets probably had little influence on the Earth. Construction of a scale that links the planets is, therefore, of only limited relevance to the Earths time scale. The existence, timing, and terrestrial effects of the Late Heavy Bombardment is still debated, the largest defined unit of time is the supereon, composed of eons. Eons are divided into eras, which are in turn divided into periods, epochs, the terms eonothem, erathem, system, series, and stage are used to refer to the layers of rock that correspond to these periods of geologic time in Earths history. Geologists qualify these units as early, mid, and late when referring to time, and lower, middle, for example, the lower Jurassic Series in chronostratigraphy corresponds to the early Jurassic Epoch in geochronology. The adjectives are capitalized when the subdivision is formally recognized, and lower case when not, thus early Miocene but Early Jurassic. Geologic units from the time but different parts of the world often look different and contain different fossils. For example, in North America the Lower Cambrian is called the Waucoban series that is subdivided into zones based on succession of trilobites. In East Asia and Siberia, the unit is split into Alexian, Atdabanian. A key aspect of the work of the International Commission on Stratigraphy is to reconcile this conflicting terminology, the term Anthropocene is used informally by popular culture and a growing number of scientists to describe the current epoch in which we are living. The term was coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to describe the current time, others say that humans have not even started to leave their biggest impact on Earth, and therefore the Anthropocene hasnt even started yet. Whatever the case, the ICS has not officially approved the term, leonardo da Vinci concurred with Aristotles interpretation that fossils represented the remains of ancient life. The 11th-century Persian geologist Avicenna and the 13th-century Dominican bishop Albertus Magnus extended Aristotles explanation into a theory of a petrifying fluid. Avicenna also first proposed one of the principles underlying geologic time scales, the Chinese naturalist Shen Kuo also recognized the concept of deep time
10.
Cambrian
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The Cambrian Period was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 55.6 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 541 million years ago to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 485.4 mya and its subdivisions, and its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latinised form of Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, as a result, our understanding of the Cambrian biology surpasses that of some later periods. The rapid diversification of lifeforms in the Cambrian, known as the Cambrian explosion, most of the continents were probably dry and rocky due to a lack of vegetation. Shallow seas flanked the margins of several continents created during the breakup of the supercontinent Pannotia, the seas were relatively warm, and polar ice was absent for much of the period. The United States Federal Geographic Data Committee uses a barred capital C ⟨Є⟩ character similar to the capital letter Ukrainian Ye ⟨Є⟩ to represent the Cambrian Period, the proper Unicode character is U+A792 Ꞓ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH BAR. Despite the long recognition of its distinction from younger Ordovician Period rocks and older Supereon Precambrian rocks, the base of the Cambrian lies atop a complex assemblage of trace fossils known as the Treptichnus pedum assemblage. Pedum in Namibia, Spain and Newfoundland, and possibly, in the western USA, the stratigraphic range of T. pedum overlaps the range of the Ediacaran fossils in Namibia, and probably in Spain. The Cambrian Period followed the Ediacaran Period and was followed by the Ordovician Period, the Cambrian is divided into four epochs and ten ages. Currently only two series and five stages are named and have a GSSP, because the international stratigraphic subdivision is not yet complete, many local subdivisions are still widely used. In some of these subdivisions the Cambrian is divided into three epochs with locally differing names – the Early Cambrian, Middle Cambrian and Furongian, rocks of these epochs are referred to as belonging to the Lower, Middle, or Upper Cambrian. Trilobite zones allow biostratigraphic correlation in the Cambrian, each of the local epochs is divided into several stages. The International Commission on Stratigraphy list the Cambrian period as beginning at 541 million years ago, the lower boundary of the Cambrian was originally held to represent the first appearance of complex life, represented by trilobites. The recognition of small shelly fossils before the first trilobites, and Ediacara biota substantially earlier and this formal designation allowed radiometric dates to be obtained from samples across the globe that corresponded to the base of the Cambrian. Early dates of 570 million years ago quickly gained favour, though the used to obtain this number are now considered to be unsuitable. A more precise date using modern radiometric dating yield a date of 541 ±0.3 million years ago, most continental land was clustered in the Southern Hemisphere at this time, but was drifting north. Large, high-velocity rotational movement of Gondwana appears to have occurred in the Early Cambrian, the sea levels fluctuated somewhat, suggesting there were ice ages, associated with pulses of expansion and contraction of a south polar ice cap. In Baltoscandia a Lower Cambrian transgression transformed large swathes of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain into a epicontinental sea, the Earth was generally cold during the early Cambrian, probably due to the ancient continent of Gondwana covering the South Pole and cutting off polar ocean currents
11.
Metaconglomerate
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Metaconglomerate is a rock type which originated from conglomerate after undergoing metamorphism. Conglomerate is easily identifiable by the pebbles or larger clasts in a matrix of sand, silt, metaconglomerate looks similar to conglomerate, although sometimes the clasts are deformed. The cement matrix of conglomerate is not as durable as the grains, metaconglomerate, however, breaks through the grains, as the cement has recrystallized and may be as durable as the clasts. Foliated metaconglomerate is created under the same conditions that produce slate or phyllite. The metaconglomerates of the Jack Hills of Western Australia are the rocks for much of the detrital zircons that have been dated to be as old as 4.4 billion years
12.
Cardamom
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Cardamom, sometimes Cardamon or Cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India, Bhutan, Indonesia and Nepal, some other countries, such as Sri Lanka, have also begun to cultivate it. Cardamom is the worlds third-most expensive spice, surpassed in price per weight only by vanilla, the modern genus name Elettaria is derived from the local name. The root ēlam is attested in all Dravidian languages viz. Kannada elakki, Telugu yelakulu, Tamil elakkai, the second element kai means seed or fruit. The Malabar region had historical connections and was a prominent area of cardamom cultivation. A related root is present in Hindi ilaychi, Bengali ælachi. In Sindhi it is called Photta, in Sanskrit it was known as ela or ellka. In Marathi it is known as velchi or veldoda. In Sri Lanka, the plant is known as Enasal by Sinhala language, there are two main types of cardamom, True or green cardamom comes from the species Elettaria cardamomum and is distributed from India to Malaysia. What is often referred to as white cardamon is actually Siam cardamom, the two types of cardamom, κάρδαμομον and ἄμωμον, were distinguished in the fourth century BCE by the Greek father of botany, Theophrastus. Theophrastus and informants knew that these varieties were originally and solely from India, both forms of cardamom are used as flavorings and cooking spices in both food and drink, and as a medicine. E. cardamomum is used as a spice, a masticatory, Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance. Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma, green cardamom is one of the more expensive spices by weight, but little is needed to impart flavor. It is best stored in the pod as exposed or ground seeds quickly lose their flavor, grinding the pods and seeds together lowers both the quality and the price. For recipes requiring whole cardamom pods, a generally accepted equivalent is 10 pods equals 1 1⁄2 teaspoons of ground cardamom and it is a common ingredient in Indian cooking. In the Middle East, green cardamom powder is used as a spice for sweet dishes, as well as traditional flavouring in coffee, Cardamom is used to a wide extent in savoury dishes. In Asia both types of cardamom are used in both sweet and savory dishes, particularly in the south. Both are frequent components in spice mixes, such as Indian and Nepali masalas, green cardamom is often used in traditional Indian sweets and in masala chai
13.
Khmer language
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Khmer /kmɛər/ or Cambodian is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language, Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism. The vast majority of Khmer speakers speak Central Khmer, the dialect of the plain where the Khmer are most heavily concentrated. Within Cambodia, regional accents exist in remote areas but these are regarded as varieties of Central Khmer, outside of Cambodia, three distinct dialects are spoken by ethnic Khmers native to areas that were historically part of the Khmer Empire. The Northern Khmer dialect is spoken by over a million Khmers in the regions of Northeast Thailand and is treated by some linguists as a separate language. Khmer is primarily an analytic, isolating language, there are no inflections, conjugations or case endings. Instead, particles and auxiliary words are used to indicate grammatical relationships, general word order is subject–verb–object, and modifiers follow the word they modify. Classifiers appear after numbers when used to count nouns, though not always so consistently as in languages like Chinese, in spoken Khmer, topic-comment structure is common and the perceived social relation between participants determines which sets of vocabulary, such as pronouns and honorifics, are proper. Khmer differs from neighboring languages such as Thai, Burmese, Lao, words are stressed on the final syllable, hence many words conform to the typical Mon–Khmer pattern of a stressed syllable preceded by a minor syllable. The language has been written in the Khmer script, an abugida descended from the Brahmi script via the southern Indian Pallava script, approximately 79% of Cambodians are able to read Khmer. Khmer is a member of the Austroasiatic language family, the family in an area that stretches from the Malay Peninsula through Southeast Asia to East India. Austroasiatic, which also includes Mon, Vietnamese and Munda, has been studied since 1856 and was first proposed as a family in 1907. Despite the amount of research, there is doubt about the internal relationship of the languages of Austroasiatic. Diffloth places Khmer in a branch of the Mon-Khmer languages. In these classification schemes Khmers closest genetic relatives are the Bahnaric and Pearic languages, more recent classifications doubt the validity of the Mon-Khmer sub-grouping and place the Khmer language as its own branch of Austroasiatic equidistant from the other 12 branches of the family. Khmer is spoken by some 13 million people in Cambodia, where it is the official language and it is also a second language for most of the minority groups and indigenous hill tribes there. Additionally there are a million speakers of Khmer native to southern Vietnam and 1.4 million in northeast Thailand, Khmer dialects, although mutually intelligible, are sometimes quite marked. The dialects form a continuum running roughly north to south, the following is a classification scheme showing the development of the modern Khmer dialects
14.
Thai language
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Thai, also known as Siamese or Central Thai, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people and the vast majority of Thai Chinese. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family, over half of the words in Thai are borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, Thai also has a complex orthography and relational markers. Spoken Thai is mutually intelligible with Laotian, Thai is the official language of Thailand, natively spoken by over 20 million people. Standard Thai is based on the register of the classes of Bangkok. In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages, Isan, the language of the Isan region of Thailand, a collective term for the various Lao dialects spoken in Thailand that show some Siamese Thai influences, which is written with the Thai script. It is spoken by about 20 million people, Thais from both inside and outside the Isan region often simply call this variant Lao when speaking informally. Northern Thai, spoken by about 6 million in the independent kingdom of Lanna. Shares strong similarities with Lao to the point that in the past the Siamese Thais referred to it as Lao. Southern Thai, spoken by about 4.5 million Phu Thai, spoken by half a million around Nakhon Phanom Province. Phuan, spoken by 200,000 in central Thailand and Isan, Shan, spoken by about 100,000 in north-west Thailand along the border with the Shan States of Burma, and by 3.2 million in Burma. Lü, spoken by about 1,000,000 in northern Thailand, and 600,000 more in Sipsong Panna, Burma, nyaw language, spoken by 50,000 in Nakhon Phanom Province, Sakhon Nakhon Province, Udon Thani Province of Northeast Thailand. Song, spoken by about 30,000 in central and northern Thailand, Elegant or Formal Thai, official and written version, includes respectful terms of address, used in simplified form in newspapers. Rhetorical Thai, used for public speaking, religious Thai, used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks. Royal Thai, influenced by Khmer, this is used when addressing members of the family or describing their activities. Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts, street and Elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations. Rhetorical, religious, and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum, many scholars believe that the Thai script is derived from the Khmer script, which is modeled after the Brahmic script from the Indic family. However, in appearance, Thai is closer to Thai Dam script, the language and its script are closely related to the Lao language and script
15.
Eastern Thailand
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Eastern Thailand is a region of Thailand bordering Cambodia on the east and central Thailand on the west. Eastern Thailand lies between the Sankamphaeng Range, which forms a border with the Khorat Plateau to the north. The geography of the region is characterised by short mountain ranges alternating with small basins of rivers which drain into the Gulf of Thailand. Fruit is a component of agriculture in the area. The regions coastal location has helped promote eastern seaboard industrial development, islands off Eastern Thailands coast include Ko Sichang, Ko Lan, Ko Samet, and Ko Chang
16.
Trat Province
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Trat is the easternmost province along the Thai coast. It has borders with Chanthaburi Province to the northwest, Cambodia to the east, Trat is 315 km from Bangkok. Trat is most famous for mining and trading. The history of Trat can be traced back to the early 17th century during the reign of King Prasat Thong of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Formerly known as Mueang Thung Yai, Trat has played an important role in the development of the country’s stability, the town of Trat later become a community of Chinese merchants. King Taksin then succeeded in driving out the Burmese invaders and liberated the kingdom from foreign rule, in the Rattanakosin era, during the 1893 Paknam crisis, French troops landed and occupied the western part of Chantaburi Province. In 1904, Siam was forced to surrender Trat to French Indochina in order to regain Chantaburi, during the French-Thai War of 1940-41, the navy of the Vichy France government in Indo-China sailed from Saigon and attempted to seize Trat. The unprepared Thai warships were caught by surprise, despite fighting valiantly, by the end of the 17 January battle at Ko Chang, three Thai ships had been left sinking - the HTMS Chonburi, HTMS Songkhla, and HTMS Thonburi. French casualties were light with no ships lost, the Japanese government negotiated a truce, which ended the conflict without further fighting. The Cardamom mountain range forms the boundary to Cambodia in the east of the province, the third biggest island of Thailand is the provinces Ko Chang. The island and more than 40 surrounding smaller islands form the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park, other islands of the province include, Ko Kham, Ko Mak, and Ko Phi. The provincial seal shows the sea with the Khao Banthat mountain range in the background, the provincial tree is the tropical almond. The province is subdivided into seven districts and these are further subdivided into 38 subdistricts and 254 villages. Ao Tan Khu is a bay with fine sandy beach popular with people during holidays. Ao Khlong Son is a bay in the northernmost west of the island where Ban Khlong Son community is located, bang Bao Fishing Village is a village of houses on stilts built into the sea with bridges connecting them. Most of the residents are descendants of the Salak Phet villagers, the area is an ideal berthing area for fishing boats, with mountains and islands providing shelter from wind and storms in the monsoon season. Ban Rong Than is a community near Salak Phet, south island. It is a scenic viewpoint where the peak of Khao Salak Phet in the north and Ko Maphrao Nai
17.
Gulf of Thailand
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The Gulf of Thailand, formerly the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the western part of the South China and Eastern Archipelagic Seas, a marginal body of water in the western Pacific Ocean. The gulf is around 800 km long and up to 560 km wide, has an area of 320,000 km2 and is surrounded on the north, west and southwest by Thailand, on the northeast by Cambodia. The South China Sea is to the southeast, the modern Thai name of the gulf is Ao Thai and Gulf of Thailand has been adopted as the official name of the body by the International Hydrographic Organization. Its name in Malay and Khmer continues to be the Gulf of Siam, Teluk Siam and Khmer, ឈូងសមុទ្រសៀម, Chhoung Samut Siem, in Thai, the gulf is historically known as Ao Sayam. The Gulf of Thailand is bordered by Cambodia, Thailand, and it occupies a seabed area of 304,000 km2 from 6° N to 13°30 N latitude and 99°E to 104° E longitude. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, the southern boundary of the gulf is defined by a line from Cape Bai Bung in southern Vietnam to the city of Kota Bharu on the Malaysian coast. The gulf is shallow, its mean depth is 58 metres. This makes water exchange slow, and the water inflow from the rivers reduce the level of salinity in the gulf. Only at greater depths does water with a higher salinity flow into the gulf from the South China Sea and it fills the central depression below a depth of 50 metres. The seabed morphology in the depression of the gulf is characterised by the presence of elongated mounds. This morphology, widespread within the gulf in water depths exceeding 50 m and it reflects an interaction between sediment dewatering and the erosional activity of the present-day bottom currents. The sediment dewatering and fluid seepage result in the formation of small pits. In 2016, coral bleaching was detected at Ko Thalu and Ko Lueam in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province for the first time, the gulfs many coral reefs have made it attractive to divers. The tropical warmth of the water attracts many tourists, in recent years, the bay has become known for its whale watching activities, targeting the endemic, critically endangered populations of cetaceans and dugongs. It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon, presence of the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle which is a rare species in Thai waters, was confirmed during whale watching expeditions in January,2016. The area between Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam is subject to territorial disputes. Malaysia and Thailand have chosen to develop the disputed areas. A long-standing dispute between Cambodia and Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand concerns mainly the island of Phú Quốc or Koh Tral in Khmer, Cambodia also claims 48,000 square kilometres of shelf area
18.
Pursat Province
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Pursat is a province of Cambodia. It is located between the Tonle Sap and the end of the Cardamom Mountains. The Pursat River bisects the province, running from the Cardamoms in the west to the Tonle Sap in the east, the fourth largest province of Cambodia in area, Pursat ranks only 14th in population. The region is accessible by National Highway 5, by boat, rail, the capital, Pursat town, lies 174 kilometres north west of Phnom Penh by road and 106 kilometres south east of Battambang. Pursat is home to Wat Bakan, considered to be among the oldest active pagodas in Cambodia, forests cover approximately 58% of the Pursat. The mountains of the Cardamom range rise high in the west and southwest of the province along the border with Thailand, the land slopes toward the northeast, opening up into the fertile plains that continue into Battambang and from which much of Cambodias rice crop is harvested. The Pursat River follows this orientation and drains into the Tonle Sap which forms Pursats eastern boundary, Pursat is one of the nine provinces that are part of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. Due to the geography and climate of Pursat, Aquilaria thrives in the forest, Aquilaria species, specifically Aquilaria crassna, infected with the parasitic mold Phaeoacremonium parasitica are the source of Agarwood. There was an abundance in wild Agarwood during the early centuries, due to its distinct fragrance, many trees were sought after and felled for gift offerings to the royal family and officials. It is also known that the agarwood harvested from Pursat were the most valuable, the depletion of wild trees from indiscriminate cutting for agarwood has resulted in the trees being listed and protected as an endangered species. Projects are being implemented to infect cultivated Aquilaria trees artificially, to produce agarwood in a sustainable manner, the province is subdivided into six districts. 1501 Bakan - បាកាន1502 Kandieng - កណ្ដៀង1503 Krakor - ក្រគរ1504 Phnum Kravanh - ភ្នំក្រវាញ is a mountainous district 1505 Pursat - ពោធិ៍សាត់ is a small
19.
Rainforest
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The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earths tropical rainforests. Around 40% to 75% of all species are indigenous to the rainforests. It has been estimated there may be many millions of species of plants, insects. Tropical rainforests have been called the jewels of the Earth and the worlds largest pharmacy, the undergrowth in some areas of a rainforest can be restricted by poor penetration of sunlight to ground level. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs and small trees, the term jungle is also sometimes applied to tropical rainforests generally. Tropical rainforests are characterized by a warm and wet climate with no dry season. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C during all months of the year, average annual rainfall is no less than 168 cm and can exceed 1,000 cm although it typically lies between 175 cm and 200 cm. Many of the tropical forests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough. The broader category of tropical moist forests are located in the zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Tropical forests have been called the Earths lungs, although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to the atmosphere through photosynthesis, Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in few regions around the world. Temperate rainforests are rainforests in temperate regions and they occur in North America, in Europe, in East Asia, in South America and also in Australia and New Zealand. A tropical rainforest typically has a number of layers, each with different plants, examples include the emergent, canopy, understorey and forest floor layers. They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas, eagles, butterflies, bats and certain monkeys inhabit this layer. The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees, typically 30 metres to 45 metres tall, the densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops. The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species, epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches, and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on the supporting plants. The fauna is similar to found in the emergent layer. A quarter of all species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy. Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat, true exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s, when scientists developed methods to reach the canopy, such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows
20.
Kirirom National Park
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Kirirom National Park is a national park in Cambodia. It is located mostly in Phnom Sruoch District, Kampong Speu Province, the meaning of Kirirom is Happy Mountain. This name was given to the area by King Monivong in the 1930s, the ancient name of the place was Phnom Vorvong Sorvong for the main two hills there were connected with the Cambodian popular legend about two heroic princely brothers, Vorvong and Sorvong. The park extends over the part of the Cardamom Mountains. It is located 112 km from Phnom Penh of National Highway 4 on the road to Sihanoukville, lying at 675m above sea level, Kirirom was Cambodias first officially designated national park. It contains many footpaths through the forests with a number of small lakes and waterfalls and was once used as a refuge by the Khmer Rouge
21.
Rain shadow
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A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a shadow of dryness behind them, wind and moist air is drawn by the prevailing winds towards the top of the mountains, where it condenses and precipitates before it crosses the top. The air, without much moisture left, advances behind the mountains creating a side called the rain shadow. The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to the top of a mountain range, as atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that the air reaches its adiabatic dew point. At the adiabatic dew point, moisture condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top, the air descends on the leeward side, but due to the precipitation it has lost much of its moisture. There are regular patterns of prevailing winds found in round the Earths equatorial region. The zone designated the trade winds is the zone between about 30° N and 30° S, blowing predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, the strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties between 30 and 50 degrees latitude. The Dasht-i-Lut in Iran is in the shadow of the Elburz. The Ordos Desert is rain shadowed by mountain chains including the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and the Yin Mountains, which link on to the south end of the Great Khingan Mountains. The Thar desert is bounded and rain shadowed by the Aravalli ranges to the south-east, the Himalaya to the northeast, Eastern Side of Sahyadri ranges on Deccan e. g. Northern Karnataka & Solapur, Beed, Osmanabad and Vidharba Plateau of India. The central region of Myanmar is in the shadow of the Arakan Mountains and is almost semi-arid with only 750 millimetres of rain as against as much as 5.5 metres on the Rakhine State coast. The High Peaks of Mount Lebanon rain-shadow the northern parts of the Beqaa Valley, the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea and the western slopes of the Moab Mountains on the opposite side are rain-shadowed by the Judean Hills. The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth because it is blocked from moisture on both sides, Cuyo and Eastern Patagonia is rain shadowed from the prevailing westerly winds by the Andes range and is arid. The Argentinian wine region of Cuyo and Northern Patagonia is almost completely dependent on irrigation, on the largest scale, the entirety of the North American Interior Plains are shielded from the prevailing Westerlies carrying moist Pacific weather by the North American Cordillera. More pronounced effects are observed, however, in valley regions within the Cordillera. Most rainshadows in the western United States are due to the Sierra Nevada, champlain Valley in upstate New York. It is protected by the Adirondack Mountains, hawaii also has rain shadows, with some areas being desert. Orographic lifting produces the worlds second-highest annual precipitation record,12.7 meters, on the island of Kauai, the entire island of Kahoolawe lies in the rain shadow of Mauis East Maui Volcano
22.
Black pepper
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Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. When dried, the fruit is known as a peppercorn, when fresh and fully mature, it is approximately 5 millimetres in diameter, dark red, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed. Peppercorns, and the ground pepper derived from them, may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper, green pepper, black pepper is native to south India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently, Vietnam is the worlds largest producer and exporter of pepper, dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is the worlds most traded spice and it is one of the most common spices added to cuisines around the world. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine, black pepper is ubiquitous in the modern world as a seasoning and is often paired with salt. The word pepper has its roots in the Tamil word for long pepper, todays pepper derives from the Old English pipor. and from Latin which was the source of Romanian piper, Italian pepe, Dutch peper, German Pfeffer, French poivre, and other similar forms. In the 16th century, pepper started referring to the unrelated New World chili pepper as well, Pepper was used in a figurative sense to mean spirit or energy at least as far back as the 1840s, in the early 20th century, this was shortened to pep. Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to them and to prepare them for drying, the heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper. The drupes are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn. On some estates, the berries are separated from the stem by hand, once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit and oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Pepper spirit is used in medicinal and beauty products. Pepper oil is used as an ayurvedic massage oil and used in certain beauty. White pepper consists solely of the seed of the pepper plant and this is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week, during which the flesh of the pepper softens and decomposes. Rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the seed is dried. Sometimes alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, ground white pepper is used in Chinese and Thai cuisine, but also in salads, cream sauces, light-coloured sauces, and mashed potatoes. White pepper has a different flavour from black pepper, it lacks certain compounds present in the layer of the drupe
23.
Legend
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Legend, for its active and passive participants, includes no happenings that are outside the realm of possibility, but may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep fresh and vital. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being believed by the participants. The Brothers Grimm defined legend as folktale historically grounded, a modern folklorists professional definition of legend was proposed by Timothy R. Legend is a loanword from Old French that entered English usage circa 1340. The Old French noun legende derives from the Medieval Latin legenda, in its early English-language usage, the word indicated a narrative of an event. The word legendary was originally a noun meaning a collection or corpus of legends and this word changed to legendry, and legendary became the adjectival form. By 1613, English-speaking Protestants began to use the word when they wished to imply that an event was fictitious, thus, legend gained its modern connotations of undocumented and spurious, which distinguish it from the meaning of chronicle. In 1866, Jacob Grimm described the tale as poetic. Questions of categorising legends, in hopes of compiling a series of categories on the line of the Aarne–Thompson folktale index. Compared to the highly structured folktale, legend is comparatively amorphous, in Einleitung in der Geschichtswissenschaft, Ernst Bernheim asserted that a legend is simply a longstanding rumour. Gordon Allport credited the staying-power of some rumours to the persistent cultural state-of-mind that they embody and capsulise, in the narrow Christian sense, legenda were hagiographical accounts, often collected in a legendary. Hippolyte Delehaye distinguished legend from myth, The legend, on the hand, has, of necessity. It refers imaginary events to some real personage, or it localizes romantic stories in some definite spot, stories that exceed the boundaries of realism are called fables. For example, the talking animal formula of Aesop identifies his brief stories as fables, the parable of the Prodigal Son would be a legend if it were told as having actually happened to a specific son of a historical father. If it included a donkey that gave sage advice to the Prodigal Son it would be a fable, Legend may be transmitted orally, passed on person-to-person, or, in the original sense, through written text. Jacob de Voragines Legenda Aurea or The Golden Legend comprises a series of vitae or instructive biographical narratives and they are presented as lives of the saints, but the profusion of miraculous happenings and above all their uncritical context are characteristics of hagiography. The Legenda was intended to inspire extemporized homilies and sermons appropriate to the saint of the day, the vanishing hitchhiker is the best-known urban legend in America, traceable as far back as 1870, but it is found around the world including in Korea and Russia. In the legend, a girl in a white dress picked up alongside of the road by a passerby
24.
Khmer Rouge
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The Khmer Rouge, French, Red Khmers, Khmer, ខ្មែរក្រហម Khmer Kraham) was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. This was followed by the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, the military power of the Khmer Rouge organization was not broken however, and a long era of guerrilla warfare involving large swaths of the Cambodian countryside began. Many different military factions were involved in the war era. The Khmer Rouge organization is remembered especially for orchestrating the Cambodian genocide, arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978, are considered to have constituted genocide. The governments-in-exile held onto Cambodias UN seat until 1993, when the monarchy was restored, a year later, thousands of Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrendered themselves in a government amnesty. In 1996, a new party, the Democratic National Union Movement, was formed by Ieng Sary. The organization was dissolved by the mid-1990s, and finally surrendered completely in 1999. The term Khmers rouges, French for Red Khmers, was coined by Cambodian head of state Norodom Sihanouk and it was used to refer to a succession of communist parties in Cambodia which evolved into the Communist Party of Kampuchea and later the Party of Democratic Kampuchea. The organization was known as the Kampuchea or Khmer Communist Party. The Khmer Rouges ideology combined elements of Marxism with a version of Khmer nationalism. It combined an idealization of the Angkor Empire, with a fear for the existence of the Cambodian state. The spillover of Vietnamese fighters from the Vietnam War further aggravated anti-Vietnamese feeling, some people with partial Chinese or Vietnamese ancestry were present in the Khmer Rouge leadership, they either were purged or participated in the ethnic cleansing campaigns. The Khmer Rouges social policy focused on working towards a purely agrarian society, Pol Pot strongly influenced the propagation of this policy. Pol Pot wanted to remove social institutions and to transform the society into an agrarian one and this was his way of a complete Communist society without wasting time on the intermediate steps, as the Khmer Rouge said to China in 1975. The Khmer Rouge had a policy of state atheism, all religions were banned, and the repression of adherents of Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism was extensive. Nearly 25,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the regime, in 1930, Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist Party of Vietnam by unifying three smaller communist movements that had emerged in northern, central, and southern Vietnam during the late 1920s. The name was changed almost immediately to the Indochinese Communist Party, ostensibly to include revolutionaries from Cambodia, almost without exception, all the earliest party members were Vietnamese. By the end of World War II, a handful of Cambodians had joined its ranks, on April 17,1950, the first nationwide congress of the Khmer Issarak groups convened, and the United Issarak Front was established
25.
People's Army of Vietnam
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The Peoples Army of Vietnam, also known as the Vietnamese Peoples Army, is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The PAVN is a part of Vietnam Peoples Armed Forces and includes, Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Border Defence Force, however, Vietnam does not have a specific separate Ground Force or Army branch. The military flag of the PAVN is the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, during the French Indochina War, the PAVN was often referred to as the Việt Minh. In the context of the Vietnam War, the army was referred to as the North Vietnamese Army and this allowed writers, the US military, and the general public, to distinguish northern communists from the southern communists, or Viet Cong. However, both groups ultimately worked under the command structure. According to Hanois official history, the Viet Cong was a branch of the VPA, in 2010 the PAVN undertook the role of leading the 1, 000th Anniversary Parade in Hanoi by performing their biggest parade in history. Under the guidelines of Hồ Chí Minh, Võ Nguyên Giáp was given the task of establishing the brigades, the first formation was made up of thirty one men and three women, armed with two revolvers, seventeen rifles, one light machine gun, and fourteen breech-loading flintlocks. The group was renamed the Vietnam Liberation Army in May 1945, in September, the army was again renamed the Vietnam National Defence Army. At this point, it had about 1,000 soldiers, in 1950, it officially became the Peoples Army of Vietnam. On 7 January 1947, its first regiment, the 102nd Capital Regiment, was created for operations around Hanoi. Over the next two years, the first division, the 308th Division, later known as the Pioneer Division formed by the 88th Tu Vu Regiment. By late 1950 the 308th Division had a full three infantry regiments, when it was supplemented by the 36th Regiment, at that time, the 308th Division was also backed by the 11th Battalion that later became the main force of the 312th Division. The first six divisions became known as the original PAVN Steel, in 1954 four of these divisions defeated the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, ending 83 years of French rule in Indochina. At about the time, Group 579 was created as its maritime counterpart to transport supplies into the South by sea. Most of the infiltrators were members of the 338th Division. Those PAVN formations were seen as extremely brave forces by the US forces and we had to change our plan and make it different from when we fought the Saigon regime, because we now had to fight two adversaries — the United States and South Vietnam. We understood that the U. S. Army was superior to our own logistically, in weapons, so strategically we did not hope to defeat the U. S. Army completely. Our intentions were to fight a time and cause heavy casualties to the United States, so the United States would see that the war was unwinnable
26.
Wildlife Alliance
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Wildlife Alliance is an international non-profit wildlife and forest conservation organization with current programs and partnerships in Cambodia. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Phnom Penh, working at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, the staff has built large natural enclosures and designed excellent care protocols for the over 1,200 animals in their care. Utilizing a soft release method, when the animals are ready for release the door to the enclosure is left open and they continue to provide hands-off assistance and supplementary food at the enclosure location for as long as it is necessary. The team has a mandate to suppress the illegal wildlife trade on roads, in markets and restaurants. As of 2013, the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team has rescued more than 56,000 live animals and confiscated quantities of animal parts. The Reforestation Project combats the impact of slash-and-burn farming and illegal logging while providing sustainable livelihoods to the people who were previously engaging in those activities. Zoning and Demarcation - Wildlife Alliance facilitates clear delineation of strictly protected forest zones versus community land where farmers can develop agriculture, the combination of a participatory planning process and the installation of visible posts on the ground has greatly helped in reducing land grabbing and deforestation. More than 85% of the families now earn well above the goal of $40 per month. Community Based Ecotourism - The Community-Based Ecotourism project in Chi Phat focus on assisting the communities to develop micro-enterprises, infrastructure, the sites feature a variety of activities that help visitors explore the Southern Cardamoms and provide an alternative livelihood to former slash-and-burn farmers and illegal poachers. Each of the 6 ranger stations holds twelve forest rangers and two Wildlife Alliance advisors comprising two patrol units and these rangers conduct daily patrols removing snares, confiscate illegal timber and dismantle poachers camps. Wildlife Alliance is the leader in direct protection to forests and wildlife in the Southeast Asian tropical belt and our mission is to combat deforestation, wildlife extinction, climate change, and poverty by partnering with local communities and governments. Suwanna Gauntlett is the founder and CEO of Wildlife Alliance and one of the founders of WildAid. The organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, and a volunteer International Advisory Board provides guidance on strategy, fundraising, the organization has conducted fieldwork in Asia in cooperation with Fauna and Flora International, Conservation International, Traffic, and other international conservation organizations. They are also a partnered with the FREELAND Foundation and the Russian Phoenix Fund,2004 - Government of Thailand calls for regional wildlife law enforcement network to address Southeast Asias role as a shipment hub for illegal wildlife products. Ultimate result is the creation of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network,2005 - Initial assessment of wildlife and habitat threats in Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. When the Boxing Day tsunami devastates the region later, WildAid returns to conduct a post-tsunami assessment to help Indonesian government agencies respond to the crisis. 2007 - Original WildAid changes name to Wildlife Alliance,2008 - Wildlife Alliance launches Community-Based Ecotourism program in the village commune of Chi Phat, Cambodia
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Ecotourism
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It means responsible travel to natural areas conserving the environment and improving the well being of the local people. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered a critical endeavor by environmentalists, several university programs use this description as the working definition of ecotourism. Generally, ecotourism deals with interaction with components of the natural environments. Ecotourism focuses on responsible travel, personal growth, and environmental sustainability. Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, Ecotourism is intended to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats. Responsible ecotourism programs include those that minimize the negative aspects of tourism on the environment. For these reasons, ecotourism often appeals to advocates of environmental and social responsibility, the term ecotourism, like sustainable tourism, is considered by many to be an oxymoron. Like most forms of tourism, ecotourism generally depends on air transportation, additionally, the overall effect of sustainable tourism is negative, where, like ecotourism, philanthropic aspirations mask hard-nosed immediate self-interest. An ecotourist is different from a tourist in the sense that, he or she is mindful of his environment, Ecotourism is a responsible tourism which conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local people. For many countries, ecotourism is not simply a marginal activity to finance protection of the environment, for example, in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar and territories such as Antarctica, ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product and economic activity. Ecotourism is often misinterpreted as any form of tourism that involves nature, self-proclaimed practitioners and hosts of ecotourism experiences assume it is achieved by simply creating destinations in natural areas. According to critics of this commonplace and assumptive practice, true ecotourism must, above all, sensitize people to the beauty and these critics condemn some operators as greenwashing their operations, using the labels of green and eco-friendly”, while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. Currently, there are moves to create national and international ecotourism accreditation programs. National ecotourism certification programs have been put in place in such as Costa Rica, Australia, Kenya, Estonia. Ecotourism is a late 20th-century neologism compounded from eco- and tourism, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, ecotour was first recorded in 1973 and ecotourism, probably after ecotour, in 1982. One source claims the terms were used earlier, claus-Dieter Hetzer, an academic and adventurer from Forum International in Berkeley, CA, supposedly coined ecotourism in 1965 and ran the first ecotours in the Yucatán during the early 1970s. The failure to acknowledge responsible, low-impact ecotourism puts legitimate ecotourism companies at a competitive disadvantage, many environmentalists have argued for a global standard of accreditation, differentiating ecotourism companies based on their level of environmental commitment, creating a standard to follow. The decisions of the board would be sanctioned by governments, so that non-compliant companies would be required to disassociate themselves from the use of the ecotourism brand
28.
Conservation International
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Conservation International is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Its goal is to nature as a source of food, fresh water, livelihoods. CIs work focuses on science, policy, and partnership with businesses and communities, the organization employs more than 1,000 people and works with 2, 000+ partners in more than 30 countries. CI has helped establish 1,200 protected areas across 78 countries and protected more than 730 million hectares of land, marine, in CIs first year, the organization purchased a portion of Bolivias foreign debt. The money was redirected to support conservation in the Beni Biosphere Reserve. Since this first-ever debt-for-nature swap, more than $1 billion of similar deals have made around the world. In 1989, CI formally committed to the protection of biodiversity hotspots, ultimately identifying 34 such hotspots around the world, the model of protecting hotspots became a key way for organizations to do conservation work. The organizations leadership grew to believe that CIs focus on biodiversity conservation was inadequate to protect nature, CI updated its mission in 2008 to focus explicitly on the connections between human well-being and natural ecosystems. As of FY2014, CIs expenses totaled more than US $135.3 million, CI receives high ratings from philanthropic watchdog organizations, with an A rating from Charity Watch. Charity Navigator awarded CI a score of 92.28 out of 100 for accountability, the foundation of CIs work is science, partnership and field demonstration. The organization has scientists, policy workers and other conservationists on the ground in more than 30 countries and it also relies heavily on thousands of local partners. CI works with governments, universities, NGOs and the sector with the aim of replicating these successes on a larger scale. By showing how conservation can work at all scales, CI aims to make the protection of nature a key consideration in economic development decisions around the world. In addition to the management of ocean resources, the agreement includes the worlds largest marine protected areas and sanctuaries for whales, dolphins, turtles. The organization has active in United Nations discussions on issues such as climate change and biodiversity. Its United States policy work currently highlights a connection between international conservation and Americas economic and national security interests. A few years after its founding, CI began working with McDonalds to implement sustainable agriculture, the organization expanded its commitment to working with the business sector in 2000, when it created the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business with support from the Ford Motor Company. CI has been criticized for links to companies with an environmental record such as BP, Cargill, Chevron, Monsanto and Shell
29.
Fauna and Flora International
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Fauna & Flora International, formerly the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society, is an international conservation charity and non-governmental organization. FFI was founded in 1903 as the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire by a group of British naturalists and it later became the Fauna Preservation Society, before being renamed Fauna and Flora Preservation Society in 1981. The goal of the society was to safeguard the future of southern Africa’s large mammal populations, working in tandem with landowners, government and sport hunters, the Society helped pass legislation which controlled hunting in vast stretches of East Africa and South Africa. This ultimately paved the way for the formation of National Parks, such as Kruger National Park, FFI has been referred to by many historians as the worlds first conservation society, and the societys early work in Africa was also trend-setting in ecotourism. The Societys scientific journal – Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation – is published on its behalf by Cambridge University Press, Fauna & Flora International is constituted under English law as a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity with its head office in Cambridge. FFI has sister organisations in the U. S. and Australia, the logo of the society is the Arabian oryx, after the very successful Operation Oryx, a flagship Arabian oryx captive breeding project undertaken by the society. Queen Elizabeth II is FFIs patron, and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands is the president of the organization. FFI also has a number of high-profile vice-presidents, including Sir David Attenborough, David Bellamy, Stephen Fry, Charlotte Uhlenbroek, Rove McManus, Judi Dench, FFI has members in over 80 countries. This was one of the worlds first successful breeding and reintroduction efforts for an endangered species. 1966 - Peter Scott, Chairman of IUCN Species Survival Commission, becomes Chairman of FFI and devises the Red Data Books,1971 - Launch of the 100% Fund, set up to support small-scale projects where urgent conservation action is needed to protect endangered species around the world
30.
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
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The biome includes several types of forests, Lowland equatorial evergreen rain forests, commonly known as tropical rainforests, are forests which receive high rainfall throughout the year. These forests occur in a belt around the equator, with the largest areas in the Amazon basin of South America, the Congo basin of central Africa, some trees in these forests drop some or all of their leaves during the winter dry season. These forests are found in parts of South America, in Central America and around the Caribbean, in coastal West Africa, parts of the Indian subcontinent, montane rain forests, are found in cooler-climate mountainous areas. Those with elevations high enough to regularly encounter low-level cloud cover are known as cloud forests, flooded forests, including freshwater swamp forests and peat swamp forests. In contrast to TSMF, tropical forest regions with lower levels of rainfall are home to tropical dry broadleaf forests, temperate rain forests also occur in certain humid temperate coastal regions. Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earths land surface, scientists estimate that more than half of all the worlds plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests
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Ecoregion
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An ecoregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than an ecozone. All three of these are less or greater than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, the biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches, firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible, secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges, rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome, biogeographic provinces may originate due to various barriers. Some physical, some climatic and some ocean chemical related, the history of the term is somewhat vague as it was used in many contexts, forest classifications, biome classifications, biogeographic classifications, etc. The concept of ecoregion of Bailey gives more importance to ecological criteria, while the WWF concept gives more importance to biogeography, there is significant, but not absolute, spatial correlation among these characteristics, making the delineation of ecoregions an imperfect science. Such transition zones are called ecotones, Ecoregions can be categorized using an algorithmic approach or a holistic, “weight-of-evidence” approach where the importance of various factors may vary. An example of the approach is Robert Bailey’s work for the U. S. The intended purpose of ecoregion delineation may affect the method used, according to WWF, the boundaries of an ecoregion approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to any major recent disruptions or changes. WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions, and approximately 450 freshwater ecoregions across the Earth, the use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and it is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF as priorities for conservation, Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater and marine ecoregions. In this context, terrestrial is used to mean of land, WWF ecologists currently divide the land surface of the Earth into 8 major ecozones containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions. The WWF effort is a synthesis of previous efforts to define. Many consider this classification to be decisive, and some propose these as stable borders for bioregional democracy initiatives. The eight terrestrial ecozones follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, ecozone boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like the Himalayas and the Sahara
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Khorat Plateau
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The Khorat Plateau also Korat Plateau, is a plateau in the northeastern Isan region of Thailand. The plateau forms a region, named after the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima. The average elevation is 200 m and it covers an area of about 155,000 km², the saucer-shaped plateau is divided by a range of hills called the Phu Phan Mountains into two basins, the northern Sakhon Nakhon Basin, and the southern Khorat Basin. The plateau is tilted towards the southeast, and drained by the Mun and Chi Rivers, the difference between the dry and wet seasons is much greater, which makes the area less optimal for rice. The portion known as Tung Kula Rong Hai was once exceptionally arid, oxisols of the type called rhodic ferralsols, or Yasothon soils, formed under humid tropical conditions in the early Tertiary. When portions of the plain uplifted as a plateau, these soils, characterized by a bright red color. These soils overlie associated gravel horizons cleared of sand by field termites, in a prolonged, many prehistoric Thailand sites are located on the plateau, with some bronze relics of the Dong Son culture having been found. The site appears to have once been part of a culture, until abandoned c.200 CE. None Nok Tha in the Phu Wiang District of Khon Kaen yielded evidence of an Iron Age settlement dating from about 1420 to 50 BCE, the region was once under the suzerainty of the Dvaravati Kingdom, and later under the Khmer Empire. It is dotted with the ruins of Khmer resthouses located about 25 km apart, the chapels were not just places of rest, but also were hospices and libraries, and typically included a baray. Though Higham states. we remain largely unaware of the relationships between sites and the presence or otherwise of states on the Khorat plateau during the 7th to 11th centuries. Muang Sema and Muang Fa Daet are notable though for their religious structures, there is a paucity of information from the centuries known as the Dark ages of Cambodia, but the plateau seems to have been largely depopulated. Bai sema History of Isan Khorat Plateau, A selection of related to Khorat Plateau from Global Oneness. Global Species, Northern Khorat Plateau moist deciduous forests WWF, Southeastern Asia, Northeastern Thailand, extending into Laos
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Vietnam
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Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 92.7 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the worlds 14th-most-populous country, and its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with Ho Chi Minh City as a historical city as well. The northern part of Vietnam was part of Imperial China for over a millennium, an independent Vietnamese state was formed in 939, following a Vietnamese victory in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Following a Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War, thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified in what is known as the Vietnam War, the war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975. Vietnam was then unified under a communist government but remained impoverished, in 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms which began Vietnams path towards integration into the world economy. By 2000, it had established relations with all nations. Since 2000, Vietnams economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world and its successful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Vietnam remains one of the worlds four remaining one-party socialist states officially espousing communism. The name Việt Nam is a variation of Nam Việt, a name that can be traced back to the Triệu Dynasty of the 2nd century BC. The word Việt originated as a form of Bách Việt. The form Vietnam is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem Sấm Trạng Trình, the name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Haiphong that dates to 1558. Then, as recorded, rewarded Yuenan/Vietnam as their nations name, to also show that they are below the region of Baiyue/Bach Viet. Between 1804 and 1813, the name was used officially by Emperor Gia Long and it was revived in the early 20th century by Phan Bội Châus History of the Loss of Vietnam, and later by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when both the government in Huế and the Viet Minh government in Hanoi adopted Việt Nam. Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the Paleolithic age, Homo erectus fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in Lạng Sơn and Nghệ An provinces in northern Vietnam. The oldest Homo sapiens fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of Middle Pleistocene provenance, teeth attributed to Homo sapiens from the Late Pleistocene have also been found at Dong Can, and from the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu, Lang Gao and Lang Cuom. The Hồng Bàng dynasty of the Hùng kings is considered the first Vietnamese state, in 257 BC, the last Hùng king was defeated by Thục Phán, who consolidated the Lạc Việt and Âu Việt tribes to form the Âu Lạc, proclaiming himself An Dương Vương
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Pinus latteri
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Pinus latteri, or Tenasserim pine, is a pine native to Mainland Southeast Asia. It grows in the mountains of southeastern Burma, northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and it generally occurs at moderate altitudes, mostly from 400–1000 m, but occasionally as low as 100 m and up to 1200 m. The tree is named after the Tenasserim Hills between Myanmar and Thailand, pinus latteri is a medium-sized to large tree, reaching 25–45 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. The bark is orange-red, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, the leaves are in pairs, moderately slender, 15–20 cm long and just over 1 mm thick, green to yellowish green. The cones are conic, 6–14 cm long and 4 cm broad at the base when closed, green at first. They open to 6–8 cm broad, often some time after maturity or following heating by forest fires, the seeds are 7–8 mm long, with a 20–25 mm wing, and are wind-dispersed. It is also related to the group of Mediterranean pines including Aleppo pine and Turkish pine, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Endangered species
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An endangered species is a species which has been categorized as likely to become extinct. In 2012, the IUCN Red List featured 3079 animal and 2655 plant species as endangered worldwide, the figures for 1998 were, respectively,1102 and 1197. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species, for example, population numbers, trends and species conservation status can be found in the lists of organisms by population. The conservation status of a species indicates the likelihood that it will become extinct, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the best-known worldwide conservation status listing and ranking system. Over 40% of the species are estimated to be at risk of extinction. Internationally,199 countries have signed an accord to create Biodiversity Action Plans that will protect endangered, in the United States, such plans are usually called Species Recovery Plans. Those species of Near Threatened and Least Concern status have been assessed and found to have relatively robust and healthy populations, though these may be in decline. The IUCN categories, with examples of animals classified by them, include, Extinct Extinct in the wild Captive individuals survive, critically endangered Faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Endangered Faces a high risk of extinction in the near future, vulnerable Faces a high risk of endangerment in the medium term. Near-threatened May be considered threatened in the near future, Least concern No immediate threat to species survival. A population size reduction of ≥ 50%, projected or suspected to be met within the next 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, based on any of to under A1. E) Quantitative analysis showing the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 20% within 20 years or five generations, there is data from the United States that shows a correlation between human populations and threatened and endangered species. Under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, species may be listed as endangered or threatened, the Salt Creek tiger beetle is an example of an endangered subspecies protected under the ESA. Some endangered species laws are controversial, also lobbying from hunters and various industries like the petroleum industry, construction industry, and logging, has been an obstacle in establishing endangered species laws. The Bush administration lifted a policy that required federal officials to consult an expert before taking actions that could damage endangered species. Under the Obama administration, this policy has been reinstated, being listed as an endangered species can have negative effect since it could make a species more desirable for collectors and poachers. This effect is potentially reducible, such as in China where commercially farmed turtles may be reducing some of the pressure to poach endangered species. Another problem with the species is its effect of inciting the use of the shoot, shovel
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Flowering plant
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The flowering plants, also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416 families, approx. 13,164 known genera and a total of c.295,383 known species, etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure, in other words, a fruiting plant. The term angiosperm comes from the Greek composite word meaning enclosed seeds, the ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants are known from 160 mya. They diversified extensively during the Lower Cretaceous, became widespread by 120 mya, angiosperms differ from other seed plants in several ways, described in the table. These distinguishing characteristics taken together have made the angiosperms the most diverse and numerous land plants, the amount and complexity of tissue-formation in flowering plants exceeds that of gymnosperms. The vascular bundles of the stem are arranged such that the xylem and phloem form concentric rings, in the dicotyledons, the bundles in the very young stem are arranged in an open ring, separating a central pith from an outer cortex. In each bundle, separating the xylem and phloem, is a layer of meristem or active formative tissue known as cambium, the soft phloem becomes crushed, but the hard wood persists and forms the bulk of the stem and branches of the woody perennial. Among the monocotyledons, the bundles are more numerous in the stem and are scattered through the ground tissue. They contain no cambium and once formed the stem increases in diameter only in exceptional cases, the characteristic feature of angiosperms is the flower. Flowers show remarkable variation in form and elaboration, and provide the most trustworthy external characteristics for establishing relationships among angiosperm species, the function of the flower is to ensure fertilization of the ovule and development of fruit containing seeds. The floral apparatus may arise terminally on a shoot or from the axil of a leaf, occasionally, as in violets, a flower arises singly in the axil of an ordinary foliage-leaf. There are two kinds of cells produced by flowers. Microspores, which divide to become pollen grains, are the male cells and are borne in the stamens. The female cells called megaspores, which divide to become the egg cell, are contained in the ovule. The flower may consist only of parts, as in willow. Usually, other structures are present and serve to protect the sporophylls, the individual members of these surrounding structures are known as sepals and petals. The outer series is usually green and leaf-like, and functions to protect the rest of the flower, the inner series is, in general, white or brightly colored, and is more delicate in structure. It functions to attract insect or bird pollinators, attraction is effected by color, scent, and nectar, which may be secreted in some part of the flower
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Hopea odorata
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Hopea odorata, or Ta-khian, is a species of plant in the Dipterocarpaceae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and it is a large tree reaching up to 45 m in height with the base of the trunk reaching a diameter of 4.5 m. It grows in forests, preferably near rivers, at altitudes between 0 and 600m, in places such as West Bengal and the Andaman Islands it is often planted as a shade tree. Valued for its wood, it is a species in its natural habitat. In Thailand this tree is believed to be inhabited by a tree spirit known as Lady Ta-khian
