4 Thai Gulf Provinces Are Adapting to Climate Change

November 20, 2024

a group of people standing next to a body of water

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Understand Coastal-Marine Ecosystems of 4 Thai Gulf Provinces

Rayong

Region: the east
Area: 3,552 km²
Coastline length: 100 km
Coral reefs: 41.2% are in moderate condition
Seagrass beds: Mostly in healthy condition
Total mangrove area: 31,722 rai
- 35% are in pristine condition.

Phetchaburi

Region: the west
Area: 6,225 km²
Coastline length: 89 km
Total mangrove area: 84,457 rai
- 15% are in pristine condition.
- 82% are converted into shrimp ponds, salt farms, etc.
- No report of coral reefs and seagrass beds in Phetchaburi.

Surat Thani

Region: the south
Area: 13,079 km² (the largest southern province)
Coastline length: 157 km
Coral reefs: 40.2% are in moderate condition.
Seagrass beds: Mostly in healthy condition.
Total mangrove area: 92,840 rai
- 50% are in pristine condition.

Songkhla

Region: the south
Area: 7,393 km²
Coastline length: 158 km
Coral reefs: Mostly in healthy condition.
Seagrass beds: Mostly in healthy condition.
Total mangrove area: 50,220 rai
- 34% are in pristine condition.

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Understand Provincial Profiles in a Social Context to Assess Climate Risks

	Rayong	Phetchaburi	Surat Thani	Songkhla
Population	Large non-registered population. Rising population inflow due to Rayong’s strong industrial sector. An aged society.	Growing elderly population. Decline in youth population and birth rates.	The largest southern province with low population density. Most areas are natural spaces. Growing elderly population. Constant short-term and long-term population inflow.	The second most densely populated southern province. Growing elderly population. Decline in birth rates.
Life in urban/outer areas	Concentration of population to urban areas.		High level of urbanisation. Increased urban growth is expected.	Public infrastructure is under-developed for some areas.
Environment	Poor household and tourist waste management. Negative impacts from industrial waste. Scarcity of water sources during the dry season.	Forests cover 61% of the province. Unsustainable urban expansion. Disappearing agricultural lands cause environmental issues. Negative impacts from drought.		The majority of farmland is located in Upper Songkhla. Unorganised and fragmented workers’ movements in the agriculture sector. Poor solid and liquid waste management.

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Understand Provincial Profiles in a Economic Context to Assess Climate Risks

	Rayong	Phetchaburi	Surat Thani	Songkhla
Per capita income	A small province with the highest per capita income and the second-highest Gross Provincial Product (GPP) per capita in Thailand.		Low per capita income.	Despite being the second-largest economy in the south, and the 16th-largest in the country, Songkhla still struggles with low income per capita.
Unemployment rate	Low unemployment rate.		Unemployment rates across all provinces range from medium to high.	High unemployment rate.
Key sector	Rayong’s economy is driven by the industrial sector. Household income flows from the industrial and agricultural sectors.	Agriculture and fisheries dominate Phetchaburi’s economy. Growing agritourism, but tourism infrastructure is still limited. Potential to rise as the industrial centre in the west due to its proximity to Bangkok.	Important sectors: hospitality> agriculture> industry. Household income flows from agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and industrial sectors. Fast economic growth, especially for marine tourism.	The industrial sector is the centre of Songkhla’s economy.

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Impacts on the Gulf of Thailand in 5 Key Areas

Agriculture and food security

Intensified droughts and floods. Losses of palm trees, Pará rubber trees, fruit trees, and other crops.
During the dry season, salt water invades agricultural lands (but expands aquacultural areas).

Fisheries

Erratic weather patterns
- Extreme heat.
- More frequent rainfall.
- Changes in sea water salinity levels cause damage to aquatic animals and their habitats.
- The spread of aquatic animal diseases.
Unpredictable wind direction
- Fewer seafood catches.
- Limited fishing activity during monsoon season.
- Fishers are forced to seek alternative employment.

Tourism

Frequent occurrences of monsoon storms and seasonal variability disrupt tourism.
Coastal erosion causes damage to beach businesses and forests.

Natural resource management

Beach ecosystem is damaged by coastal erosion.
Increase in intensity and frequency of monsoon storms.
Longer dry season.
Rise in temperature and heavier rainfall result in flash floods and diluted sea water.
Losses of aquatic animals and mangrove forests. Reduced reproductive rates of marine life

Human settlement and security

Elevated water level and strong wind waves cause floods in coastal areas.
Coastal erosion.

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Risk of Extreme Weather in 2100.

Looming threats	Impacts
Rising temperature➠	Intense heat during the dry season, with direct effects on agriculture, water resources, human health, and crops.
Erratic rainfall patterns ➠	Heavier rainfall will result in more floods and landslides, causing damage to basic infrastructure and local communities. Agricultural lands will suffer from the dryer season and water scarcity.
Sea level rise ➠	Saltwater intrusion and coastal erosion will intensify. Heavier flooding during the wet season. Coastal communities and basic infrastructure will be directly affected by this change.
Extreme weather ➠	Stronger storms will cause damage to the properties and undermine job security as well as safety of the local communities, especially those in coastal zones.

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Climate Impacts on Women

How are gender inequality and climate interconnected?

All of us experience climate change impacts, but risks to women are enhanced by existing inequalities.

Climate change is a “threat multiplier” for women.

Women work in climate-vulnerable sectors such as agriculture.

43% of workers in the agriculture sector are women.

In 2025 over 240 million women will experience food insecurity.

More than 7 million women in East and Southeast Asia will struggle with hunger.

But women are not mere victims. They, too, are change-makers who weave nature into their climate adaptation efforts.

Thai women at the forefront of environmental conservation

The women of Laem Phak Bia community in Petchaburi, promote sustainable tourism.
The women of Prasae community in Rayong are advocates of income generation, environmental preservation, and waste management.
The women of Muang Ngam Community in Songkhla are protectors of the beach who also oppose the construction of concrete seawalls.

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Climate Change Adaptation Activities with Nature-based Solutions in Rayong, Phetchaburi

	Rayong	Phetchaburi
Forest expansion-conservation	Conservation of water, wetland, mangrove and forest resources
Water resources development		Conservation of plant resources and enhancement of aquatic animal production (Crab Bank) to increase income from fisheries. Wastewater treatment Enhancing the efficiency of water supply to solve drought issues (construction of reservoirs and water pumping stations)
Tourism promotion	Capacity building for tourism promotion and income generation.
Waste management	Solid waste management and cleaning of public area	Solid waste reduction and cleaning of public area
Capacity-building for local communities	Strengthening capacity for community participation and fostering environmental and natural resource conservation awareness (training sessions on sustainability such as waste sorting at home)	Research and development in fisheries and aquaculture Enhancing potential of farmers to entrepreneurs/community enterprise development (training programs for community enterprise establishment) Improving efficiency of Aquatic Animal Production (trainings and establishment of a learning centre)

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Climate Change Adaptation Activities with Nature-based Solutions in Surat Thani, Songkhla

	Surat Thani	Songkhla
Forest expansion-conservation		Beachside reforestation project Expansion of green area in the community
Water resources development	Coastal Resource Management Project (prevention of illegal fishing and the destruction of aquatic resources) Marine and Coastal Resource Restoration Project (resilience-building)	Aquatic resource conservation (raising fish fertility rates) Aquatic animals’ habitat restoration project Community-based fisheries development project (Crab Bank) Groundwater development project for agriculture
Tourism promotion	Conservation Tourism Development Projects (Chai Ya District) Community tourism development to support the MICE Industry* *MICE = Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions	Tourism promotion project
Waste management	Community involvement Promotion in Waste Management
Capacity-building for local communities

Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas: Lessons Learned on Adaptation Plans in 4 Thai Gulf Provinces

Checklist for Climate Change Adaptation Plan
1	Focus on resilience-building for “green infrastructure” (nature) instead of relying on grey infrastructure (human constructs).
2	Integrate climate change adaptation into every sector.
3	Ensure public participation in plan development, especially the marginalised and at-risk population such as the poor, ethnic communities, women, gender-diverse communities.
4	Prepare livelihood-lifestyle change measures for climate-sensitive people.
5	Collect data on climate-sensitive communities from all administrative levels, from subdistrict to national levels.
6	Centre the plan on sustainability: Long-term goals Long-term strategy for funding and project maintenance

Climate change adaptation is not easy, but there will always be room for improvement.

The most important thing is that we can start now. Everyone can develop a plan that guides us out of the climate roller coaster and leaves no one behind.