The Village That Was Swallowed By The Sea

[LaoPo]

The village that was swallowed by the sea

By Bethan Jinkinson

Samut Prakan province,Thailand

Just an hour's drive south of the Thai capital Bangkok , the small coastal village of Khun Samutchine is facing a daily battle with the sea.

The village is suffering from the effects of severe coastal erosion: the sea comes in at a rate of approximately 25 metres a year.

Environmentalists say the erosion experienced in the area is probably some of the worst in the world.

Dr Thanawat Jarupongsakul, a scientist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University says that climate change has helped cause the loss of nearly 600 km of Thailand's coastline.

"Climate change has resulted in more intense waves and rougher seas during the monsoon period," he said. "The average height of waves used to be between one and 1.5 metres, but now it has increased to between two and four metres high."

Lost homes

For the villagers who live here, the encroaching sea has been devastating.

The village has lost a health centre, a school and dozens of electricity pylons, the tops of which can just be seen poking out from the sea.

Nearly half of the community's households have had to abandon their coastal homes altogether. The remaining families have to keep moving their houses further and further inland.

One of the most dramatic symbols of the sea's incursion is the village temple, Wat Khun Samutchine.

This intricate Buddhist temple stands two metres above the sea and can only be reached by a series of rickety wooden bridges.

Story with photos continues here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6683865.stm

LaoPo

[Heng]

25 meters a year!

[Old Croc]

I thought I read in another thread that the Govt doesn't consider Thailand will be affected by global warming and rises in sea levels?

Warming

[kmart]

GE built a power station there that has never functioned properly due to subsidence. Complete waste of millions of dollars...

[ThaiGoon]

I thought I read in another thread that the Govt doesn't consider Thailand will be affected by global warming and rises in sea levels?

That's not the gov't's opinion. It's of a Thai expert in geology I think. The gov't themselves haven't said anything on this, but khun Apirak, the governor of Bangkok, is pretty active in campaigning against global warming. He recently just went to meet with 39 governors of other world's major cities. He's also campaigning for Bangkok to switch off all the lights for 15 minutes every month (as a symbol that we wanna do something about this problem.) I'm sure he must be trying to push for other green projects in Bangkok as well.

[jeebusjones]

That's not the gov't's opinion. It's of a Thai expert in geology I think.

Actually it was "a leading Thai hydrologist."

But it's good to hear that Apirak is actively trying to fight global warming. Aside from the 15 minutes of lights-out a month, what other ideas is he proposing?

When you take into consideration the lack of cooperation from the world's biggest polluter, the US, it seems Bangkok's best bet might be a series of levees.

[ThaiGoon]

But it's good to hear that Apirak is actively trying to fight global warming. Aside from the 15 minutes of lights-out a month, what other ideas is he proposing?

He wants to build more public parks in Bangkok. I think the Thai tobacco company that has its factories next to Queen Sirikit convention center will move away from that area soon. And as of now, the land is planned to be turned into public parks. Khun Apirak also has approved a feasibility study on a comprehensive mass transit plan in inner Bangkok. He wants to build monorail lines that feed and support sky train, the subway and the future metro lines. The study will take about 18 months I think. I just hope that he will get re-elected next year otherwise all these plans could never materialize.

[pete_r]

Gulf of Thailand won't rise with global warming, expert claims

Apr 23, 2007, 3:03 GMT

Bangkok - Global warming is not likely to cause the sea level in the Gulf of Thailand to rise because the body of water is too far from melting glaciers, a leading Thai hydrologist claimed on Monday.

(...)

Asia-Pacific news

So much for the expert, then.

The whole thread is here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=117475

Thaigoon, is there a fixed day and time for the switching off of the lights in Bangkok? It would be nice to know so every one who wants could participate.

[Tarragona]

It would be interesting to know how this has been attributed to climate change.

I'm not a sceptic on climate change in any way but I wonder if there is any specific scientific evidence to back it up here as opposed to environmental degradation like the loss of the mangroves, for example.

[ThaiGoon]

Thaigoon, is there a fixed day and time for the switching off of the lights in Bangkok? It would be nice to know so every one who wants could participate.

I don't really remember the time and date. They already did this once though. So I think we will hear from the media about this again when it gets closer to that day.

[johna]

It seems this is coast line erosion, which has been happening all around the world for as long as there have been oceans, as is nothing to do with climate change which has been happening since the end of the last ice age.

[Khun Jean]

Has also nothing to do with rising sea-levels. It is probably extremer weather the last few years than 'normal'. Normal being based upon weather patterns from the last few hundred years.

Before that nothing is really known.

Many times you hear 'warmest/coldest/wettest/dryest in the last 100 years'. Does that mean more than 100 years ago it was warmer/colder/wetter/dryer? or we only know and kept logs of the weather the last 100 years.

[0Mix1up]

that area is a mud flat delta I think, not the best place to build anything other than wildlife area.

be it G W or natural flows still affect the people there

[lannarebirth]

Just judging from the photos it looks like accretion land created by alluvial soil deposits. Not what I would call a stable land mass. These kinds of areas will suffer constant change, but the lifespan of a man is short and not conducive to seeing the bigger geological picture.