The timing of strike-slip shear along the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults, Thailand

The timing of shear along many important strike-slip faults in Southeast Asia, such as the Ailao Shan-Red River, Mae Ping and Three Pagodas faults, is poorly understood. We present 40Ar/39Ar, U-Pb SHRIMP and microstructural data from the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults of Thailand to show that they experienced a major period of ductile dextral shear during the middle Eocene (48–40 Ma, centered on 44 Ma) which followed two phases of dextral shear along the Ranong Fault, before the Late Cretaceous (>81 Ma) and between the late Paleocene and early Eocene (59–49 Ma). Many of the sheared rocks were part of a pre-kinematic crystalline basement complex, which partially melted and was intruded by Late Cretaceous (81–71 Ma) and early Eocene (48 Ma) tin-bearing granites. Middle Eocene dextral shear at temperatures of ~300–500°C formed extensive mylonite belts through these rocks and was synchronous with granitoid vein emplacement. Dextral shear along the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults occurred at the same time as sinistral shear along the Mae Ping and Three Pagodas faults of northern Thailand, a result of India-Burma coupling in advance of India-Asia collision. In the late Eocene (<37 Ma) the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults were reactivated as curved sinistral branches of the Mae Ping and Three Pagodas faults, which were accommodating lateral extrusion during India-Asia collision and Himalayan orogenesis

Technical efficiency and productivity change in the Thai gas industry

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Technical Efficiency and Productivity Change in the Thai Gas Industry.

Inspired by the announcement of the liberalisation of the Thai Gas Industry in 1997, with the prime objective of improving efficiency in the energy sector, this thesis aims to assess the performance of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT)—a state-owned integrated gas monopoly in Thailand during 1984/85-1996/97. Given that PTT is a national integrated gas monopoly, an international comparison is required for evaluating the company’s performance. Therefore, in this thesis, PTT’s performance is compared to three other integrated gas companies operating in three different countries: Petronas, Osaka Gas and British Gas (operating in Malaysia, Japan and the UK, respectively). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) are used to measure technical efficiency. Both are carried out under input and output orientations. Bootstrapping is also applied to the DEA to provide more statistical information. In addition, the change in PTT’s productivity over the estimation period is also estimated. The results show that in general PTT performed relatively well over the period; although this is due partially to the high concentration of gas utilisation, given the high proportion of gas consumed for power generation in Thailand. Some counter-factual experiments are undertaken to confirm the effect of the concentration of the gas market on PTT’s technical efficiency. There is also evidence of an improvement in productivity, due primarily to technical change. In sum, the results imply that despite the drop in technical efficiency at the end of the estimated period, PTT was already relatively efficient, even before the proposed changes by the Thai government. Nonetheless, given the high efficiency of PTT was partially influenced by the highly concentrated gas market, the result also provides a caution for PTT for future investment, if there is a shift in the pattern of gas utilisation towards the residential or commercial sector and the company would like to remain relatively efficient