News Forum - Undersea kingdom: Bangkok to sink beneath the waves

[Thaiger]

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that Bangkok will go underwater as low-lying communities and entire countries disappear under rising seas. According to Al Jazeera, Guterres warned of the threat posed by rising sea levels to hundreds of millions of people living in low-lying coastal areas and small island states as new data reveals …

The story Undersea kingdom: Bangkok to sink beneath the waves as seen on Thaiger News.

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[KaptainRob]

This has been forecast many times over the last decade usually with shorter timelines as new data comes available.  What Thailand has done about the problem so far, and more importantly, what actions will they initiate .... that is what I'd like to hear about.

Move the capital to Korat was once mooted.  Building a dyke out around the Bangkok river delta was another idea ... better get started on that one!  And yet another was a Thames Barrier type of barrage near the Chao Phraya river mouth 

Draining the Gulf might work .... 

[anarchofarmer2]

So that,s why they want the subs!!!

[Soidog]

45 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

This has been forecast many times over the last decade usually with shorter timelines as new data comes available.  What Thailand has done about the problem so far, and more importantly, what actions will they initiate .... that is what I'd like to hear about.

Move the capital to Korat was once mooted.  Building a dyke out around the Bangkok river delta was another idea ... better get started on that one!  And yet another was a Thames Barrier type of barrage near the Chao Phraya river mouth 

Draining the Gulf might work .... 

I think the only practical option for humanity is to retreat from low lying areas. People have always inhabited coastal areas for obvious reasons. As sea levels rise and the coast essentially move inland, so too must populations.
 

In this modern world there are of course amazing civil engineering projects that can hold back the sea and delay the move. Ultimately and if climate change scientists predictions are correct, then moving to higher ground is the only way.

 

[KaptainRob]

29 minutes ago, anarchofarmer2 said:

So that,s why they want the subs!!!

They'd need to dredge the Gulf, not drain it 

Reminds me of a story from Australia ... severe rain and flooding on the Gold Coast made bridges over the Nerang River impassable to high vessels, one politician came out recommending dredging of the river.

[Soidog]

1 minute ago, KaptainRob said:

They'd need to dredge the Gulf, not drain it 

Reminds me of a story from Australia ... severe rain and flooding on the Gold Coast made bridges over the Nerang River impassable to high vessels, one politician came out recommending dredging of the river.

To be fair KR, these people don’t go in to politics because they are smart

[kalyan]

Boost/ Promote  more High End realstate so as lucrative buyers and big Counts will invest in bangkok.

When it bangkok sinks i bet thailand financially sunk forever.

 

[Soidog]

7 minutes ago, kalyan said:

Boost/ Promote  more High End realstate so as lucrative buyers and big Counts will invest in bangkok.

When it bangkok sinks i bet thailand financially sunk forever.

Bangkok generates around 1/3rd of Thailands overall GDP. If we imagine for a moment that it’s lost overnight in some cataclysmic flood, then under normal laws of economics, that would be Thailand financially sunk. However, this is Thailand. It’s currency, it people and it’s economy are more robust than anywhere on the planet. They have just endured a near 20% loss in GDP for almost 18 months due to Covid, and yet it’s ticking along nicely as though nothing much happened. I’d bet my money on Thailand surviving just about anything. They are indeed a robust nation. 
 

This is an interesting article to this point 

https://www.ft.com/content/f280de11-48c7-4526-aa92-ad1e1b7b6ed1

[Grumpish]

3 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

Draining the Gulf might work .... 

With that and giant vacuum cleaners for Chiang Mai - please don't encourage them.

[KaptainRob]

This 2021 article provides background to the seemingly insurmountable challenge faced by engineers who may be involved in saving Bangkok from the sea.  > https://th.boell.org/en/2021/11/01/short-long-term-solutions-bangkok-flood

Maps from https://coastal.climatecentral.org
Projected areas below sea level by 2030

2030 Potential areas affected during annual floods >

A fairly recent article about Thailand and Malaysia sea-level rise, here > https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/how-to-save-thailand-and-malaysia-from-rising-sea-levels/

[HolyCowCm]

26 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

This 2021 article provides background to the seemingly insurmountable challenge faced by engineers who may be involved in saving Bangkok from the sea.  > https://th.boell.org/en/2021/11/01/short-long-term-solutions-bangkok-flood

Maps from https://coastal.climatecentral.org
Projected areas below sea level by 2030

2030 Potential areas affected during annual floods >

A fairly recent article about Thailand and Malaysia sea-level rise, here > https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/how-to-save-thailand-and-malaysia-from-rising-sea-levels/

Yikes, even worse than I originally thought. Might be a good time to invest and buy property out of the red zones. I find it odd that Chonburi and even the city of Pattaya is not in a red zone. I would have figured these coastal places would be inundated as is ground sea zero sea level.

[Soidog]

2 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

This 2021 article provides background to the seemingly insurmountable challenge faced by engineers who may be involved in saving Bangkok from the sea. 

Interesting articles. I noted that Prayut and Prawits houses are in the green area even in the worst case scenario for 2030, so nothing much will get done