Geological Perspective for Geotourism Development in Uthai Thani Province, Thailand

Abstract

Uthai Thani is a fascinating city in central Thailand and has the uniqueness of geodiversity, nature, culture, and history, which makes it ideal for geotourism development. The lifestyle of the local population is linked to nature and the river, making the area very interesting for tourist. It also has a fantastic mountainous region in the western part including karst topography, granite batholith, and numerous small hills. The study area consists of seven geosites, which are Sakae Krang River, Kao Pla Ra Mountain, Hup Pa Tat Cave, Samor Thong Hot Spring, Khuan Khun Kaew Reservoir, Saiber Waterfall, and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary. The Kao Pla Ra mountain is the highlight of this region, which has many prehistoric cliff-paintings. This geotourism announcement can educate the tourists to understand the geologic processes and has many advantages for the local and national sustainable development in the travel industry, economy, geology, history, and society.

Characteristics and Assessment of Selected Waterfalls Formed in Different Geological Basements in Thailand

“…These studied waterfalls have significant potential for geotourism development, similar to Tone Nga Chang (Seven-tier) waterfall in Songkhla Province, southern Thailand, which is dominated by granitic rocks (Nazaruddin, 2019). Singtuen and Won-In (2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2019…”

“…Meanwhile, the quantitative assessment evaluates all those values in preliminary numerical criteria that consist of zero (0) to five (5) scoring, denoting none, very poor, poor, fair, good, and very good, respectively. All the selected waterfalls are located in national parks that manage and protect physical and natural features by national legislation (Singtuen and Won-In, 2018a;Singtuen and Won-In, 2018b;Singtuen and Won-In, 2018c;Singtuen and Won-In, 2019). Thus, these waterfalls automatically have high natural values with biotic (plants and animals) and abiotic (landforms and landscapes) components.…”

“…International value relates to the number of geological research promotions via peer-reviewed journals or international-specific conferences. There are different numbers and ranks of their international publications (Singtuen and Won-In, 2018a;Singtuen and Won-In, 2018b;Singtuen and Won-In, 2018c;Singtuen and Won-In, 2019). 1 score: 5 = very good, 4 = good, 3 = fair, 2 = poor, 1 = very poor, 0 = none National parks always support educational activities and create scientific panels in order to educate people.…”

Hydrogeochemical characteristics and terrestrial radiation of geothermal spring attractions in Central and Western Thailand

“…Furthermore, the major faults of Central and Western Thailand. which include the Mae Ping Fault Zone (PFZ), Three Pagoda Fault Zone (TPFZ), and Sri Swat Fault Zone (SSFZ), are oriented in a parallel manner in the same NW-SE direction [19,20] (Fig. S1).…”

“…In contrast, the TPFZ and the SSFZ were considered to have a left-lateral strike-slip faults with the Mawlamyine District (Myanmar) across the central region (Bangkok) [17][18][19]. Moreover, these faults show more or less NW-SE orientations and continue from eastern Myanmar to Western Thailand (e.g., Uthai Thani, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi Provinces) [19,20].…”