Sanambin Non-Hunting Area
Location:	14°38'N, 103°05'E; two km north of the town of Prakhon Chai, Prakhon Chai District, Buriram Province, in the floodplain of the River Mun.
Area:	570 ha.
Altitude:	c.160m.
Biogeographical Province:	4.10.4.
Wetland type:	15, 17, 18 & 19.
Description of site:	A water storage reservoir, created in about 1975 by the damming of a natural marshy area. The area of open water (200 ha) is surrounded by an extensive area of marsh grasses. The site is completely encircled by roads. One small village, Ban Thi Sawon, lies within the boundary of the Non-Hunting Area. The wetland is fed by the many small water courses which transect the floodplain. The main outflow is via small canals for the purposes of irrigation and municipal water supply. The depth of water is 2-3m. There is always a minimum of about 200 ha of open water, even at the height of the dry season. In the wet season, flooding of the plains is so extensive that the permanent water body is linked to flooded areas elsewhere.
Climatic conditions:	Tropical monsoonal climate with an average annual rainfall of 1,197 mm, over 80% of which falls during the southwest monsoon (May to October). There is a long, hot, dry season during which the maximum temperature may rise to 43.4°C. The mean annual temperature is 27.1°C. (Data from Nakhon Ratchasima, 110 km to the northeast of the site).
Principal vegetation:	Typha angustifolia, Eleocharis sp and Cyperus sp fringe parts of the reservoir, and there is a considerable amount of Nymphaea sp on the open water. There is also a small area of swamp woodland on the shore of the lake. Adjacent areas are mainly under cultivation, chiefly for rice paddy, but there are some patches of dry dipterocarp woodland.
Land tenure:	The wetland is under public ownership. Parts of the site have been encroached upon by villagers, however, for both houses and cultivated plots. Surrounding areas are privately owned farmland.
Conservation measures taken:	The site was declared as a Non-Hunting Area in 1980.
Conservation measures proposed:	Human use of the site should be zoned in order to minimize disturbance to waterfowl. Another Non-Hunting Area should be established in Nang Rong District, Buriram Province (c.30 km distant) in order to encompass the wooded nesting areas of the Comb Ducks Sarkidiornis melanotos which visit Sanambin.
Land use:	Fishing, raising of domestic ducks, and rice growing in seasonally flooded marshland; rice cultivation (one crop of wet-season rice per year) in surrounding areas.
Possible changes in land use:	The Royal Irrigation Department has proposed to build a higher dam in order to flood the area to a greater depth.
Disturbances and threats:	Villagers have been known to steal the eggs and young of Sarkidiornis from nesting areas outside the Non-Hunting Area. There is a considerable amount of illegal hunting and constant, incidental disturbance of the waterbirds from fishermen. Parts of the wetland have been encroached upon for cultivation or settlement.
Economic and social values:	The site is an important source of water for household use in Prakon Chai District.
Fauna:	The reservoir has been stocked with common species of food fish. It is the only site in Thailand where Sarkidiornis melanotos occurs regularly; up to 20 birds have been reported, usually between December and August. The rare White-winged Wood-Duck Cairina scutulata has also been reported; 2-4 individuals were present in April 1986. Some 5,000-7,000 Dendrocygna javanica occur in the non-breeding season, together with small numbers of Anas acuta, up to 200 A. querquedula and as many as 2,000 Nettapus coromandelianus. A few pairs of Dendrocygna nest. Gallinula chloropus. Porphyrio porphyrio and Metopidius indicus also occur, together with Ixobrychus flavicollis (a wet-season visitor which probably breeds), I. sinensis and K. cinnamomeus. Ardea purpurea occurs, but may not breed. Occasional concentrations of up 10,000 Egretta spp have been recorded, apparently on passage, with usually 1,000 birds wintering.
Special floral values:	None known.
Research and facilities:	A Non-Hunting Area Station with one guard has been established at the site.
References:	Voravan (1986).
Criteria for inclusion:	2a, 2b, 3b.
Source:	Jira Jintanugool and Philip D. Round.