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Heavy metals have been detected in coastal regions, in the vicinity of former mining sites. The level of these heavy metals frequently exceed the safe limits in what represents an important aquatic source of food for human consumption. A thorough and conventional study into the levels of contamination in the suspected area is a costly but necessary exercise in order to inform any appropriate mitigating actions. This study demonstrates the benefits of integrating scientific investigating methods comprising chemical analysis using aqua regia and geo-electrical surveys, i.e., electrical resistivity imaging and induced polarization, to attain the approximate levels of contamination for both lateral and vertical landscapes in an efficient way. The demonstration to present the conformity and reliability of this joint methods is at Saphan Hin, situated on the southeastern coast of Phuket, Thailand. The site is located downstream of Bang-Yai canal; a potential intermediary carrying heavy metals especially Lead and Zinc from a number of mines where the nearest is approximately 4 km away. Saphan Hin is an important place marine fishery to supply to an increasing number of tourists to Phuket. The combined results from using all methods in this study are consistent in showing that the extent of the over-the-limit contamination can be found up to at least 200 m from the estuary, and with the decreasing depths from around 20 m to 50 cm at further distances from mainland, demanding urgent measures for the health of local people as well as tourists. A model to adapt these monitoring methods for implementation in operating mines is proposed as an early warning system to prevent any leakage probably occurring under normal conditions.

Many locations in the world have been changing their main economic activity from agriculture to tourism pursuing more favorable opportunities for their development. Such a change in economic structure also leads to a significant alteration in the provincial greenhouse gas emissions. In order to investigate these differences, this study compares the greenhouse gases emitted from the major human activities in agriculture and tourism-based provinces. For this purpose, Phuket and Phayao provinces in Thailand were chosen as representatives for tourism and agriculture, respectively. Environmental and economic performances of other tourist and agricultural areas in different countries were also presented to examine commonalities and differences. It was found that in the agricultural provinces, the major part of greenhouse gas emissions came from rice cultivation, while in the tourist provinces, from the energy sector. The comparative results among several locations show that the tourist areas (especially urban-tourism-based areas) mostly had a higher eco-efficiency due to the large income from tourism and other services. They also had higher greenhouse gas indices than agricultural areas, due to energy consumption. The performance of agriculture-and-tourism-based provinces was outstanding with the lowest average carbon footprint per capita while not performing badly on the other indices, partly due to a decrease in biomass burning. At a time when global warming is the major world problem, agri-tourism can be considered to be an optimal choice and direction for the sustainable development of both agricultural and tourist provinces.