Thai village swallowed by sea water

Every morning, four barefoot children line up to sing the national anthem during a flag-raising ceremony at a school surrounded by seawater.

These are the last students at the school located in the coastal village of Ban Khun Samut Chin that is being "swallowed" by the sea.

The village, 10 km from Bangkok, has about 200 people left. Ban Khun Samut Chin is a prime example of the future of coastal communities around the world , facing the reality of climate change causing sea levels to rise.

"I used to have about 20 classmates when I was in kindergarten, but now I'm a bit lonely and want to make new friends," said 11-year-old student Jiranan Chorsakul.

A pagoda surrounded by seawater in Ban Khun village, Samut Chin, June 14. Photo: AFP

At the temple, built on stilts to avoid the murky waters of Bangkok Bay, village chief Wisanu Kengsamut said seawater had encroached 2km inland over the past six decades.

“There used to be a village and mangrove forest behind me, and you could easily walk from the village to the temple. But people started moving further inland, away from the temple,” he said. The only remnants of the old village are electricity poles bobbing on the water.

The United Nations warns that sea levels have risen 15-25cm since 1900 and the rate is accelerating, especially in some tropical regions. If this continues, water levels around Pacific and Indian Ocean islands could rise by nearly a meter by the end of the century.

Thailand is warned to be severely affected, as about 11 million people, equivalent to 17% of the population, live along the coast and depend on fishing and tourism for their livelihood.

A father takes his daughter to school outside the village of Ban Khun Samut Chin. Photo: AFP

Danny Marks, an environmental politics expert from Dublin City University, Ireland, said the village of Ban Khun Samut Chin was a warning "of a world devastated by climate change".

“This is an example of the risks that rising sea levels pose, especially to developing countries,” he said.

Encroachment at Ban Khun Samut Chin has been exacerbated by poor local environmental management and weather patterns made more extreme by climate change. The village’s groundwater has been over-exploited. The mangrove forest that once served as a “breakwater” has also been cleared to make way for shrimp farms.

Dams upstream on the Chao Phraya River, which flows through Bangkok and empties into the sea near the village, also slow the sedimentation of the bay.

Village officials have worked with Chulalongkorn University to install bamboo and concrete pillars and replant mangroves to protect against the sea, but village chief Wisanu fears "these measures may not be enough to counter the force of nature and the village will be swallowed up".

"We have no plans to move the village inland because there is no more vacant land, so we have to try to preserve it somehow," he said, adding that he had given up hope of Thai government intervention because "our calls for help have gone nowhere". "We have to save ourselves."

Four students salute the flag in the morning at a school in Ban Khun Samut Chin, June 14. Photo: AFP

Ban Khun Samut Chin village is exploiting ecotourism to raise funds and make the public aware of their "fight for survival".

At the school, surrounded by water, principal Mayuree Khonjan said four students are learning about the local ecosystem and how to identify creatures. She hopes they will one day become tour guides. The school will have three students when one graduates next year.

In class, Jiranan concentrates as the teacher writes numbers on the board. "I want to be a teacher to impart knowledge. I want to teach at this school, if it is still here," Jiranan said.

Duc Trung (According to AFP )

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