U. Freitag · 1980
In this production account, U. Freitag describes the new Atlas of Thailand as the revised fourth edition of the Royal Thai Survey Department’s National Resources Atlas of Thailand, intended to provide a foundation for a future national atlas. Work began in 1974; by 1976, drafts of all but two maps were complete and 29 map pages had been printed, while reproduction and printing constraints delayed further publication. The planned contents cover natural, human and economic resources, with principal maps at 1:2,500,000 and 1:4,000,000 on a newly compiled topographic base using Albers’ equal-area conic projection. Freitag explains how existing thematic maps were adjusted and supplemented, and how statistics, field surveys, aerial photographs and Landsat imagery supported new maps. Examples include a population map combining urban population squares with rural population dots positioned using village locations. He also describes supplementary diagrams and illustrations, the abandonment of four-page thematic sets because suitable heavy paper was unavailable, and discrepancies between intended and printed colours during the department’s first attempt at four-colour printing. Despite these limitations, Freitag judges the maps valuable for information and research.
