Nong Luang
Location:	l9°47'-19°52'N, 99°57'E; 17 km southeast of Chiang Rai town, Muang District, Chiang Rai Province; 6 km from Wiang Chai District.
Area:	2,000 ha.
Altitude:	400m; surrounded by low rolling hills rising to 523m.
Biogeographical Province:	4.10.4.
Wetland type:	11, 13, 15, 18 & 19.
Description of site:	A complex of small pools, reed-beds, grassland and rice paddies along the Huai Luang and Nam Mae Sakun, tributaries of the Nam Mae Kok. The area lies at the extreme southeast corner of the extensive alluvial basin around Chiang Rai town and is bounded by low hills. The wetland is transected by a road. An embankment along the Huai Rong Bon, another tributary of the Nam Mae Sakun, has probably served to reduce the areas of seasonal inundation. The areas of open water are rather small, ranging in size from 5-50 ha. Paddies occupy approximately 1,200 ha and marshes 400 ha. There are also seven bamboo-covered islands at the site, of which the largest is approximately 40 ha. The wetland is fed by freshwater run-off from the nearby hills and a major inflow from the Nam Mae Sakun. The outflow is also into the Nam Mae Sakun, which flows into the Kok River. Flooding is most extensive during the late wet season and early part of the dry season. The margins of the area dry out gradually until the beginning of the rains in May.
Climatic conditions:	Tropical monsoonal climate.
Principal vegetation:	Extensive beds of Saccharum arundinaceum. The floating vegetation includes Eichhornia crassipes. Land to the west of the site is mainly under cultivation, but there are still many patches of bamboo and deciduous woodland among the hills to the east.
Land tenure:	The marshes and open water areas are under public ownership; the paddies are privately owned but are mostly worked by tenant farmers. Surrounding areas are privately owned farmland.
Conservation measures taken:	None.
Conservation measures proposed:	It is proposed to establish a Non-Hunting Area, covering an area of 1,470 ha, at Nong Luang.
Land use:	Fishing, cattle grazing and cultivation of lotus and rice (one crop per year of irrigated or rain-fed rice); cultivation of vegetables and lychee orchards in surrounding areas.
Possible changes in land use:
Disturbances and threats:	The burning and cutting of reeds in order to open up areas for cultivation (lotus in flooded areas and vegetables in the drier situations) is a major threat. Hunting of waterbirds is reported to be heavy.
Economic and social values:	Nong Luang supports an important small-scale local fishery. In addition, the water body serves as a source of water for irrigating the small rice paddies around its margins.
Fauna:	Not yet surveyed in detail. The area is known to support a few wintering egrets, together with small numbers of Dendrocygna javanica, Nettapus coromandelianus, Gallinula chloropus and Porphyrio porphyrio. The extensive reed-beds can be expected to support wintering Botaurus stellaris, A. purpurea and reed warblers Acrocephalus spp, as well as breeding and wintering Ixobrychus spp. The habitat almost certainly supports Saxicola jerdoni. At least six different wintering Pied Harriers Circus melanoleucos were seen in December 1985. Otters Lutra sp are reported to occur.
Special floral values:	One of the most extensive remaining reed-beds in northern Thailand; probably a good representative fragment of the kind of habitat which once covered huge areas of the plains around Chiang Rai.
Research and facilities:	A fisheries station of the Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, is situated at Nong Luang.
References:	Amget et al. (1985); Land Use Classification Division (1977-79).
Criteria for inclusion:	1b. 2b.
Source:	Jim Jintanugool and Philip D. Round.