Rising sea levels threaten Thailand

VOA News: Thailand has been told it needs to build a massive sea wall to prevent massive damage from land subsidence and rising sea waters. The Thai capital, Bangkok, and nearby provinces face losses of billions of dollars unless the government acts to protect the area from rising sea waters caused by climate change and subsiding land.

Bangkok, built over 200 years ago on the Chao Phraya River delta, is one of several major cities in Asia that international conservation groups say are under threat from climate change and land subsidence. Among the others are Dhaka, Manila, Jakarta, Calcutta, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai.

Cor Dijkgvaaf is a professor and director at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development studies in Rotterdam. He says Thailand needs to build a 100 kilometer seawall along the Gulf of Thailand to keep reduce the risk of massive floods.

"You calculate first how much it costs if your industrial production comes to a standstill, you cannot reach your house any more, your agricultural land is destroyed by the salt water. I can assure you that a solution like this is cheaper," said Cor Dijkgvaaf.

Climate and development experts say many of the endangered cities face several problems. First, they sit on low lying, swampy land, surrounded by rivers, that is naturally prone to floods. Increased urbanization has contributed to land subsidence, which is worsened by poor planning, which has blocked drainage ways. And finally, as the global climate warms, sea levels rise, creeping higher into cities….

The central district of Bangkok, shot by Bình Giang