Lam Dom Yai
Location:	14°15'-14°30'N, 105°05'E; in Nam Yun District, Ubon Ratchathani Province.
Area:	Approximately 30 km of river.
Altitude:	140-300m; nearby hills rise to 693m.
Biogeographical Province:	4.10.4.
Wetland type:	12.
Description of site:	A river rising among the rolling hills of the Phanom Dongrak range at the southern margin of the Khorat Plateau which forms the Thai-Kampuchean border. The upper 20 km of the river are fast-flowing and the banks forested. After a swift descent to the plains, the river becomes slow-flowing and the lower 10 km pass through open, cultivated land. The river is a permanent water course with an average depth of about 0.5m and many deeper pools. There are marked seasonal fluctuations in water level, the river frequently being in spate during the late wet season, from July onwards.
Climatic conditions:	Tropical monsoonal climate with an average annual rainfall of 1,197 mm (range 730-2,4 15 mm), 81.8% of which falls during the southwest monsoon (May to October). The mean annual temperature is 27.1°C (range 4.9-43.3°C). (Data from Nakhon Ratchasima, to the west).
Principal vegetation:	No information is available on the aquatic vegetation. The upper reaches of the river flow through evergreen forest (often referred to as dry evergreen forest), with secondary deciduous formations around the northern edge of the forest towards the plains and foothills. The plains are mostly cultivated land with some patches of degraded scrub woodland.
Land tenure:	The river and the remaining forests and secondary growth are state owned. The plains are mostly privately owned small-holdings.
Conservation measures taken:	Both banks of the river in its forested upper reaches are fully protected by law. The Yot Dom Wildlife Sanctuary abuts on the west bank, while protection of the areas on the east bank (as the Phu Jang Na Yoi National Park) has been proposed.
Conservation measures proposed:	Much better protection of areas both inside and outside the Yot Dom Wildlife Sanctuary and proposed Phu Jang Na Yol National Park is needed.
Land use:	Protected, forested watershed in the upper reaches; cultivation of rice (one crop of wet-season rice per year) in areas adjacent to the lower reaches.
Possible changes in land use:
Disturbances and threats:	The forested upper reaches of the river and adjacent watershed are a major stronghold of the Khmer Rouge and the area is, at present, unsafe to enter. There is almost certainly much hunting at the site. Thai villagers also hunt waterfowl around the settled northern parts of the site.
Economic and social values:	The river is extremely important as a source of water for household use and irrigation, supplying many thousands of households in the Nam Yun District.
Fauna:	Fauna: One of only three Sites in Thailand where the endangered White-winged Wood-Duck Cairina scutulata has been reported. A few individuals are believed to flight out of the forests at night to feed in rice paddies on the floodplain, close to the foot of the hills. Thai villagers captured three individuals in the winter of 1984/85 on a pond among rice fields at the northern margin at the site. Local Wildlife Division officials report that as many as 10-20 individuals are still present along the forested upper reaches of the river. Crocodiles (presumably Crocodylus siamensis) are said to occur.
Special floral values:	The headwaters of the Lam Dom Noi flow through the most extensive remaining forest in the Phanom Dongrak range east of the Khao Yai-Tab Lan block.
Research and facilities:
References:	Some accommodation is available at the headquarters of the sanctuary.
Criteria for inclusion:	2a.
Source:	Jira Jintanugool and Philip D. Round.