Thanapon Piman

Thanapon Piman is a Senior Research Fellow with SEI Asia.

He has more than 15 years of academic and professional experience in the fields of hydrology, water resources planning and modelling, sustainable irrigation and hydropower development, and climate change adaptation.

Prior to joining SEI, he was with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) during 2007-2010 as a Senior Water and Modelling Specialist under the MRC Basin Development Plan Programme (BDP) and during 2013-2015 as a Technical Advisor/Water and Climate Change Specialist under the Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative (CCAI) for sustainable water resources development and management in the Mekong Basin.

His technical work focused on assessing impacts of water resources development and climate change on water and water-related sectors in the Mekong River Basin using Decision Support Framework (DSF), remote sensing and GIS tools, developing irrigation and hydropower database, climate change monitoring and capacity building on scenario-based planning and water resources modelling. He has also been involved in formulating the IWRM-based basin development strategies for Lower Mekong Basin 2011 and the draft Mekong Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan. He has extensive experience in collaborative projects with academics, experts and policy makers in Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar.

Dr.Thanapon was a Research Assistant during his Master’s and Doctoral studies. He was a post-doctoral fellow in water resources from 2011-2012 under the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and worked on the research project entitled “River at Risk: Modeling and Monitoring the Potential Impacts of Large-Scale Disruptions and Climate Change to the Hydrological Cycles of the Mekong River Basin on Biodiversity and Natural Systems”. He  became a research associate from 2013-2015 under the research project “Critical Basin at Risk:  Assessing and managing ecosystem pressures from development and climate change in the 3S basin”.

Recently, he  worked as a researcher with Khon Kaen University, Thailand under the project titled “Potential Changes in Water Balance, Flood and Drought Situation in Huay Luang Watershed Under Climate Change” funded by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF).

Thanapon holds a Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering and Management from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand in 2007, a M.E in Water Resources Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand in 2003,  and a B.E in Civil Engineering from Prince of Songkla University, Thailand (with first class honors) in 2000.

Publications authored externally to SEI

• Oeurng, C., Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E., and Piman, T. (2016), Assessment of changes in riverine nitrate in the Sesan, Srepok and Sekong tributaries of the Lower Mekong River Basin, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, Elsevier (accepted).
• Shrestha, B., Cochrane, T.A., Caruso, B.S., Arias, M.E., and Piman, T. (2016), Uncertainty in flow and sediment projections due to future climate scenarios for the 3S Rivers in the Mekong Basin, Journal of Hydrology, Elsevier, vol 540, pp 1088–1104.
• Piman, T., Chalermchai Pawattana, C, Vansarochana, A., Aekakkararungroj, A., and Hormwichian, R. (2016), Analysis of historical changes in rainfall in Huai Luang watershed, Thailand, The 6th KKU International Conference, Khon Khen University, Thailand, pp 25.
• Piman, T., Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E. (2016) Effect of Emerging Large Dams on Water Flows and Hydropower Production in the Sekong, Sesan and Srepok Rivers of the Mekong Basin, River Research and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi: 10.1002/rra.3045.
• Piman, T. (2015), Addressing Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus in Tranbounday River Basin Management for the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), International Expert Workshop on The Water Energy Food nexus: Challenges and Opportunities in the Mekong Region, SEA-EU-NET, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Piman, T., Nuon, V., Charoensatsiri, S., Aekkararungroj A., and Nguyen, H. T. Phan. (2015) Climate Change Analysis in the Lower Mekong Basin: Review of availability of observed meteorological data, Working Paper No.52, Mekong River Commission, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
• Piman, T., Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E. (2016) Effect of Emerging Large Dams on Water Flows and Hydropower Production in the Sekong, Sesan and Srepok Rivers of the Mekong Basin, River Research and Applications (under review)
• Arias, M.E., Piman, T., Cochrane, T.A., and Kummu, M. (2014) Dams on Mekong tributaries as significant contributors of hydrological alterations to the Tonle Sap Floodplain in Cambodia. Hydrological and Earth System Sciences, 18, 1–12. doi:10.5194/hess-18-1-2014
• Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E., and Piman, T. (2014) Historical impact of water infrastructure on water levels of the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap System. Hydrological and Earth System Sciences, 18, 4529–4541. doi:10.5194/hess-18-4529-2014
• Piman, T., Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E., Nguyen D. Dat and Vannarat, O. (2014) Managing Hydropower under Climate Change in the Mekong Tributaries. Managing Water Resources under Climate Uncertainty: Managing Water Resources under Climate Uncertainty: Examples from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Australia, Springer, 223-248.
• Arias, M.E., Cochrane, T.A., Kummu, M., Lauri, H., Koponen, J., Holtgrieve, G.W., and Piman, T.  (2013) Impacts of hydropower and climate change on drivers of ecological productivity of Southeast Asia’s most important wetland, Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, 272, 252-263.
• Piman, T., Lennaerts, T., and Southalack, P. (2013) Assessment of hydrological changes in the Lower Mekong Basin from basin-wide development scenarios. Hydrological process, Wiley, 27, 2115–2125. doi: 10.1002/hyp.9764
• Arias, M.E., Cochrane, T.A., Piman, T., Kummu, M., Caruso, B., and Killeen, T.J. (2012) Quantifying changes in flooding and habitats in the Tonle Sap Lake (Cambodia) caused by water infrastructure development and climate change in the Mekong Basin. Journal of Environmental Management, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.07.003.
• Piman, T., Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E., Green, A.  and Dat, N. D. (2012) Assessment of flow changes from hydropower development and operations in Sekong, Sesan and Srepok Rivers of the Mekong Basin,  Journal of  Water Resource Planning and Management,  ASCE.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000286.
• Piman T. and Babel M. S. (2012), Prediction of Rainfall-Runoff in an Ungauged Basin: A Case Study in the Mountainous Region of Northern Thailand,Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, ASCE, http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000573.