Land Use Change Model Comparison: Mae Sot Special Economic Zone

Abstract

Development of the Mae Sot Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Tak province, connects Thailand’s economy through the city of Myawaddy, Karen State, Myanmar with Mawlamyine, Yangon, Myanmar, India, and the south of China. Support for several basic infrastructure-related projects and public sector mega department stores are under construction. To date, these investments had not appeared in Tak province. As a result, land use change plays an important part in influencing Mae Sot SEZ. This chapter is a case study on land use change and prediction modeling over the next 20 years (i.e., 2028 and 2038) utilizing the cellular automata (CA)-Markov model and Land Change Modeler (LCM) methods. Predictive results show similar findings from both methods. Results indicate the forest areas and water bodies will change into agricultural and community areas, while the agricultural areas will change to community areas. These methods can assist in proper administrative safe measures to monitor impact on society, environment, security, and public health.