Current view: Text account
Site description (2004 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA comprises a 3,591 ha portion of Mu Ko Chumphon National Park, plus an adjacent unprotected area of 2,239 ha; the total area of the national park is 31,700 ha. The site is centred on the Thung Kha estuary, where the Khlong Ban Yai river discharges into the Gulf of Thailand. This estuary contains extensive intertidal mudflats and a large area of mangroves. The mangrove vegetation is dominated by Rhizophora spp. and Sonneratia spp., while an extensive tract of Avicennia alba and Xylocarpus granatum mangroves occurs along the Khlong Bang Yai river.
The mangroves at the site supports some of the largest concentrations of the globally threatened Pale-capped Pigeon Columba punicea recorded in mainland South-East Asia in recent decades. The birds recorded at the site may form part of the same population as those recorded at Tha Yang (IBA TH039). The site is also an important staging area for migratory shorebirds, which feed on the intertidal mudflats. In addition, the site regularly supports significant numbers of the globally near-threatened Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus, and the nationally threatened Great Crested Tern Sterna bergii.
Non-bird biodiversity: No information is available about other globally threatened species at the site.
The IBA comprises a 3,591 ha portion of Mu Ko Chumphon National Park, plus an adjacent unprotected area of 2,239 ha; the total area of the national park is 31,700 ha. The site is centred on the Thung Kha estuary, where the Khlong Ban Yai river discharges into the Gulf of Thailand. This estuary contains extensive intertidal mudflats and a large area of mangroves. The mangrove vegetation is dominated by Rhizophora spp. and Sonneratia spp., while an extensive tract of Avicennia alba and Xylocarpus granatum mangroves occurs along the Khlong Bang Yai river.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Some areas of mangrove at the site were previously under logging concessions, resulting in degradation and loss. Illegal conversion to shrimp ponds, and rubber and coconut plantations, is a high potential threat to remaining areas.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Thung Kha (Thailand). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/thung-kha-iba-thailand on 23/11/2024.
