Coastal Erosion and Community Battle: Experience and Lesson Learned from Thailand

Coastal erosion is a major global natural disaster. Eight hundred and thirty kilometers of Thai’s coastline have been eroded most severely at a pace of more than five meters annually. This human-environment interactions disaster not only damaged the infrastructure and building asset, but also lead to conflict among different groups of interests in local communities. Different coastal protection structures such as jetties, groins, breakwaters and sea walls have been used to combat severe erosion in coastal region. The contaminated heavy metals in estuarine projected areas particularly lead, nickel and mercury has increased sharply after constructed groins fields and revetments were investigated since 2010.

This study aimed to investigate the severity degree of coastal erosion and mitigate through integrated management based on community participation. Fight against coastal erosion in different arrangements are taken place in various communities. Bamboo sticks act as wave breaking barriers while also allowing sediment to be stored behind them that learned the technique from mussel growers. And then concrete poles are constructed as a barrier along the shoreline to minimize the sea waves and trap soil behind the concrete wall. When the sedimentation becomes thick enough, young mangrove trees will be planted and acts as a breeding ground for various marine organism dwelling. Sand keeping and filling, bamboo embankments and mangrove plantation along the eroded coastline are country wide for currently rehabilitation. Ore-bearing rocks for constructed materials are one fugitive source of those pollutants as well as the others. We request that before opportunistic coastal restoration project implementation, all constructed materials need to be assessed and continuing monitoring.