Avoiding spelling mistakes

Freshwater  

Freshwater, or fresh water, is any naturally occurring water, except seawater and brackish water. Fresh water includes water in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and underground water called groundwater.

Freshwater is not the same as drinking water. Much of the earth’s freshwater on the surface and groundwater is too polluted for drinking. Most larger plants and mammals need freshwater to live. So it is useful to spell this important word correctly. Sometimes, in Thai English, freshwater is spelled wrong as freswater.

This error may occur because the one word form of the term freshwater makes it more difficult to notice if we have left out the letter h. If we wrote the term as fresh water, it would be more visible if this omission happened: fres water. As all Thammasat University students know, a number of English language words end with the letters esh. They include:

• enmesh
• flesh
• hasheesh
• intermesh
• refresh
• thresh
• unmesh

If we find it easier to spell the term correctly by using two words, as fresh water, then it is a good idea to adopt this format for any academic research project or thesis we are planning. Whichever alternative we choose, it is necessary to remember to stick to that format for any associated words we may also use in our writing.

So if we choose the format freshwater, then we should write terms such as groundwater and seawater rather than ground water and sea water. Or if we decide we prefer to write fresh water, then we should also write ground water and sea water. The important thing is to choose one style and remain with it for the entire research project or thesis. If we change back and forth from spelling format, our readers may be confused.

Freshwater in Thailand

All TU students are aware that one of the aspects of freshwater is that it contains relatively low salt levels, compared to the ocean. Bueng Boraphet is the largest freshwater swamp and lake in central Thailand. It is located east of Nakhon Sawan, south of the Nan River. 106 square kilometres of the lake were declared a non-hunting area in 1975. In 2000 it was designated a wetland of international importance by the Thai government.

Songkhla Lake or Thale Sap Songkhla is the largest natural lake in Thailand. It is on the Malay peninsula in the southern part of the country. Bordering the provinces of Songkhla and Phatthalung, in geological terms, it is a lagoon complex although it is popularly referred to as a lake.

Thale Noi (‘Small Sea’) is a lake in southern Thailand, famous for its sea of lotus flowers and waterfowl reserve protected under the The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat.

This treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands is also known as the Convention on Wetlands, named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.

The Nong Han is a lake in the northeast of Thailand, northeast of the provincial capital town of Sakon Nakhon. It is the largest natural lake of northeast Thailand.

Kwan Phayao and Pang Ung Lake are other examples of freshwater in the Kingdom. There is also the Bungborraped Freshwater Aquarium, part of the Bungborraped inland fisheries park in Nakhon Sawan, displaying many species of freshwater tropical fish.

Freshwater appreciation

Among international organizations pointing out the importance of freshwater is the Fisheries and Aquaculture (FAO) Department of the United Nations. On its website, the FAO declares:

Aquaculture plays an increasingly important role in food security and the economy of Thailand. Freshwater aquaculture is mainly for domestic consumption. Small-scale freshwater aquaculture is still very crucial in providing the rural poor with high quality protein food for home consumption. Brackish water aquaculture usually produces high-value products for export. In 2003, total production from freshwater and brackish water aquaculture was approximately 320 000 and 450 000 tonnes, respectively. The main freshwater species cultured were Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus ), hybrid catfish (Clarias macrocephalus X C. gariepinus ), silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus ), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii ), snakeskin gourami (Trichogaster pectoralis ). The main brackish water cultured species were giant tiger prawn (Peneaus monodon ), whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vanamei ), green mussel (Perna viridis ), blood cockle (Anadara spp.), and oyster (Crassostrea commercialis ).  A major factor limiting the promotion of aquaculture practices in Thailand is the poor economic return from investments rather than the lack of production technology. Advanced aquaculture techniques, including intensive pond and cage farming, have been developed and are available, particularly for freshwater aquaculture, but the profit margin is very small and is not attractive to expanded investment.  Since the yield from capture fisheries is not expected to increase greatly, emphasis is being placed on the ability of the sector to provide increasing quantities of fish to satisfy increasing demand. It has long term potential for increasing fisheries production for both local consumption and export, and for achieving earnings from high-value shrimp and fish species.

We are also reminded by the FAO that

Freshwater aquaculture, mainly pond and rice-field culture, has been practiced in Thailand for more than 80 years. The development of freshwater aquaculture started in 1922 after the import of Chinese carp for culture around Bangkok. In 1951 the Department of Fisheries set up an aquaculture promotion programme. At present, more than 50 freshwater aquatic species have been cultured. The five most important species, in term of annual production, are Nile tilapia, hybrid catfish, silver barb, giant river prawn, snakeskin gourami… Freshwater aquaculture includes culture in ponds, paddy fields, cages and ditches. Most farms are densely located in areas which have abundant water resources or which are irrigated. The central plain and coastal zone, including the vicinity of Bangkok Metropolitan, Samutprakarn, Suphanburi, Nakorn Pathom, Surat Thani, Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi, are particular areas of production… More than 50 freshwater fish species have been cultured throughout the country. Among these 50 percent are indigenous and the rest have been imported and domesticated for a long time… Freshwater products are mainly for domestic consumption and marketed as fresh products, particularly tilapia, snakeheads, catfishes and giant river prawn. Brackish water products, in particular shrimps, are mainly for export. The major markets are the United States, the European Union and Japan. These products are diversified, for example frozen, semi- processed, cooked, etc… Subsistence freshwater aquaculture and inland capture fisheries play a vital role in the food security of rural people, particularly in remote areas. In contrast, intensive freshwater aquaculture and brackish water aquaculture generally involve higher financial investment and a skilled labour force.

The Office of the Board of Investment, a government agency under the Office of the Prime Minister, is another source of authoritative information about freshwater in the Kingdom. Its website reports that

Sufficient freshwater availability is a critical factor for Thailand’s future development. Water is required for domestic consumption, for agriculture, for tourism, for industry and energy production, as well as environmental preservation.

 

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)