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The "Smooth" Life at Three Hundred Peak
Water Plain |
Story: Wiwat Pandawutiyanon
Photos: Photography Staff
The longish Three Hundred Peak plain extends north-south along the left or west side of
the Three Hundred Peak Mountain Range in Prachuab Khiri Khan Province. It has an area of
around 69 square kilometers, half of which is national park land. Nine to ten months in a
year, from June to March of the next year, the plain is submerged under water averaging a
meter deep.
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This water-saturated land fosters a
distinctive ecosystem teeming with life thats constantly flowing, waving, and slip and
sliding in a smooth existence between solid and liquid surroundings. Sedges, rushes and
other plants in the area are specially designed with plenty of air-holes. With water
supporting them, they need not build up thick layers of cell to uphold themselves like
land plants, and are thus ready to bend and bow with the elements without breaking or
tearing. They are "coast guards," slowing floods,
trapping sediment, and purifying coastal waters. |
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Water lilies and lotuses, with their
roots in mud but eventually bursting forth in bloom above the waters and dirt, have become
a symbol of Buddhism, but they are also sacred to another group of creatures for more
practial reasons. The underside of their leaves provide refuge, shade and source of food
for snails, hydras and several other small organisms.
Over a hundred species of birds, both native and migratory, are found
in the marshland. But fishes are most crucial in the lives of villagers who depend on
fishing. Next in line are the birds and plants. Reports of large mammals like mountain
goats and barking deer occasionally seen watering in the area excited ecologists. The
freshwater meadow supported more kinds of life than expected.
Unfortunately, on the surface of shallow static waters, red stains
could be seen, the result of waste water released by pineapple and sugar cane factories
nearby. These and encroachment on national park land by shrimp farms are looming threats
to the flow of a "smooth" world. |
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