The IBA comprises the whole of Pattani bay, a c.30 km stretch of shallow gradient coastline along the Gulf of Thailand. Natural habitats at the site comprise mangroves and intertidal mudflats, which are bisected by a series of rivers. The least degraded mangroves remaining at the site occur in Yaring district. The site is surrounded by fishing communities, and Pattani town lies on the western side of the bay.
Key biodiversity
Ao Pattani is an important site for migratory shorebirds, and regularly supports greater than 20,000 congregatory waterbirds. A number of globally threatened waterbird species have been recorded at the site, although none is thought to regularly occur in significant numbers. There are recent records of the globally endangered Nordmann's Greenshank Tringa guttifer and Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor, as well as historical records of the globally vulnerable Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmeus, including the highest count of this species to date in Thailand: 13 birds in 1984.
The IBA comprises the whole of Pattani bay, a c.30 km stretch of shallow gradient coastline along the Gulf of Thailand. Natural habitats at the site comprise mangroves and intertidal mudflats, which are bisected by a series of rivers. The least degraded mangroves remaining at the site occur in Yaring district. The site is surrounded by fishing communities, and Pattani town lies on the western side of the bay.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Hunting of shorebirds is a major threat to biodiversity at the site. In 1986, for example, c.8,000 birds of at least 22 species were caught. Other threats to biodiversity include conversion of mangroves and intertidal mudflats into aquacultural ponds and salt pans, and pollution.
