Thanapon Piman

Dr. Thanapon Piman is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Division – Climate and Environmental Resilience at SEI Asia. He is also an Affiliated Researcher at the Sustainable Environment Research Institute (SERI), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

With more than 20 years of experience, he is an expert in water resources and ecosystem management, climate resilience, and transboundary water governance. He has led research and development initiatives across Southeast and South Asia, particularly in the Mekong, Chao Phraya, Ayeyarwady, and Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basins, working across more than 10 countries including Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, China, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Fiji.

His expertise encompasses transboundary water governance; flood and drought management; climate-smart water resources planning; community-based watershed management; wetland conservation and restoration; water tenure assessment; and strengthening the climate resilience of communities in transboundary river basins. He is also actively involved in strengthening regional research networks, including SUMERNET and the Mekong Think Tank (MTT) Alliance. His work integrates science, policy, and practice to advance sustainable water management, ecosystem conservation, and climate and environmental resilience.

Previously, Dr. Thanapon served as Water Cluster Lead at SEI Asia for eight years and worked with the Mekong River Commission for seven years. He has extensive experience collaborating with international development partners and donors, including the World Bank, ADB, FAO, JICA, Sida, DFAT, USAID, GIZ, and LMC.

He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and holds a Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering and Management from the Asian Institute of Technology, an M.E. from Chulalongkorn University, and a B.E. in Civil Engineering from Prince of Songkla University with First-Class Honors.

Publications

2025       

• Saluja, R., Prasad, S., Maung, W., & Piman, T. (2025). Promoting locally inclusive wetlands conservation – experience from Myanmar. SEI Brief. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://doi.org/10.51414/sei2025.028

2024       

• Tha T., Piman, T., Kittipongvises, S., Ruangrassamee, P., Riverbank erosion vulnerability assessment and coping strategies: A case study of the riparian communities in the Mekong River Basin in Cambodia. Heliyon, Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25418
• Saluja R.*, Maung T. M., Piman T., and Loc H. H. Land Use Transitions in the Lower Songkhram River in Mekong and its Impact on Carbon Sequestration Potential. ACS ES&T Water.

2023       

• Saluja, R., Prasad, S., Lwin, T. H., Soe, H. H., Pottinger-Glass, C., & Piman, T. (2023). Assessment of Community Dependence and Perceptions of Wetlands in the Upper Chindwin Basin, Myanmar. Resources, 12(10), 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources12100112
• Chang, C.H., Lee, H., Do, S.K., Du T.L.T., Markert, K., Hossain, F., Ahmad S. K., Piman, T., Meechaiya, C., Bui D. D., Bolten, J. D., Hwang, E., Jung H. C. (2023). Operational forecasting inundation extents using REOF analysis (FIER) over lower Mekong and its potential economic impact on agriculture, Environmental Modelling & Software, Volume 162, Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2023.105643

2022       

• Bhatpuria, D., Piman, T. , Matheswaran, K., Tha, T. and Towashiraporn, P., 2022. Assessment of Large-Scale Seasonal River Morphological Changes in Ayeyarwady River Using Optical Remote Sensing Data. Remote Sensing, 14(14), p.3393. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143393
• Tha, T.; Piman, T.; Bhatpuria, D.; Ruangrassamee, P. Assessment of Riverbank Erosion Hotspots along the Mekong River in Cambodia Using Remote Sensing and Hazard Exposure Mapping.Water 2022, 14, 1981. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14131981
• Das, Pritam, Faisal Hossain, Shahzaib Khan, Nishan Kumar Biswas, Hyongki Lee, Thanapon Piman, Chinaporn Meechaiya, Uttam Ghimire, and Kamal Hosen. “Reservoir Assessment Tool 2.0: Stakeholder driven improvements to satellite remote sensing based reservoir monitoring.” Environmental Modelling & Software 157 (2022): 105533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105533
• Ghimire, U., Piman, T., Shrestha, M., Aryal, A., & Krittasudthacheewa, C. (2022). Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on the Water, Food, and Energy Sectors in Sittaung River Basin, Myanmar. Water, 14(21), 3434. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14213434

2021    

• Shrestha M., Piman T., and Grünbühel C. (2021). Prioritizing key biodiversity areas for conservation based on threats and ecosystem services using participatory and GIS-based modeling in Chindwin River Basin, Myanmar, Ecosystem services, 48.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101244
• Bhatpuria D., and Piman T. (2021) A web-based seasonal geomorphological and coastal dynamics monitoring system: Case studies in Myanmar, PROCEEDINGS International Conference on GeoInformatics for Spatial-Infrastructure Development in Earth and Allied Sciences, GIS-IDEAS 2021, P.191-198
• Shrestha M., Matheswaran K., Polapanich O., Piman T., and, Krittasudthacheewa C. (2021) A stakeholder‐centric tool for implementing water management strategies and enhancing water cooperation (SDG 6.5) in the Lower Mekong Region. In Pandey, P. V., Shrestha, S. and Wiberg, D. (Eds.) Water, Climate Change, and Sustainability, pp. 239-256. Wiley Online Library

2020    

• Shrestha, S., Imbulana, N. Piman, T., Chonwattana, S. Ninsawat, S., Babur M. (2020) Multimodelling approach to the assessment of climate change impacts on hydrology and river morphology in the Chindwin River Basin, Myanmar, CATENA, 188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2020.104464
• Shrestha, S., Shakthi K.G., Piman, T., Babel, M.S. (2020) Assessment of the impact of climate change and mining activities on streamflow and selected metals loading in the Chindwin River, Myanmar. Environmental Research, 181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108942