In southern Thailand, the China-Thailand Joint Lab for Climate and Marine Ecosystems has been playing a pivotal role in tackling critical issues, including coral bleaching and coastal vulnerability for over a decade.
The joint lab was officially inaugurated in Phuket, Thailand in June 2013. As the first joint marine research facility between the two countries, the laboratory is operated by the First Institute of Oceanography, the Ministry of Natural Resources of China and the Phuket Marine Biological Center of Thailand.
Marine experts said that the lab is not only strengthening scientific research and disaster forecasting, but also boosting joint efforts to protect marine biodiversity in the face of climate change.
Rising sea levels, warming waters, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are eroding the way of life of many coastal communities around the world. For more than a decade, Thailand and China have sailed together into the heart of the ocean's shifting tides, in a mission to decode its changing rhythms. By collecting data on currents, temperatures, and storm patterns, they aim to predict- and protect- against the impacts of the planet's increasingly unpredictable seas.
"The sea has no borders, it's connected. Understanding what's changing allows us to better target the problem, and the collaboration gives us the technology analysis that we lack. We can collectively apply our experience," said Chalermrat Sangmanee, Thai director of the China-Thailand Joint Laboratory.
The joint lab program is a collaboration that comes at a crucial time. Thailand's marine ecosystems face mounting threats from coral bleaching, overfishing, and plastic waste. Every detail, every metric, every data point is a piece of a puzzle that could hold the key to preservation.
"We now have a system called OFS or Ocean Forecasting System. We can forecast the characteristics of the ocean using data, which helps in management and allow us to plan for, or deal with various crises," said Tipamat Upanoi, director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center.
China-Thailand joint lab advances climate resilience, protects biodiversity
