Thai villagers battle rising sea levels

On the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, with the towers of Bangkok visible in the distance, the sea is encroaching fast.

In some places on the vast Chao Phraya River delta, the sea is advancing inland by 20 metres per year. Overall, some 25 million people are under threat. A study published in the scientific journal Nature put the delta in the highest category of risk.

Sea levels are rising thanks to global warming, the delta is sinking and coastal erosion is also on the increase because damming upstream means that new sediment is not being carried down to the delta to counter the effects of erosion, which is exacerbated by strong seasonal tides.

We took a trip to two villages, on where the devastating effects of sea encroachment could be seen and another where residents were fighting back.

In the village of Kok Karm, resident Vorapol Dounglomchan came up with a scheme using bamboo poles to create barriers that trap sediment from the seawater and stop silt being washed away. He was moved to invent the barrier after his home was repeatedly submerged by rising sea levels and his scheme is being promoted by local authorities as an ecological solution for other villages.

In the village of Khun Samutchine, around 60 families have already been forced away from the once idyllic fishing community. A woman who has been forced to move house 8 times already to escape the encroaching sea showed us maps of where the coast had previously been and photos of the sea where her previous homes used to stand.

The Khun Samut Buddhist temple used to be in the village but is now marooned at sea and accessible only by a concrete walkway. Seawater laps around it at high tide and monks have raised the temple floor. A monk told us that it was his duty to maintain the temple for as long as possible.

In the sea behind him, rows of telegraph poles that once lined village streets now poke up above the water.

A line of electricity pylons pokes out of the water, stretching out to nowhere.