Czy opaski brzegowe uratują tajlandzkie plaże?

August 8, 2023 - Pak Nam Pran, Prchuap Kirikhan province. A man fishes from a large pile of sand excavated during the construction of a sea wall on what was Pak Nam Pran Beach in Prachuap Kiri Khan province. A majority of the beach in this coastal town has been turned into a seawall over 6 kilometres in length; only a small stretch of sandy shore known as the “Last Beach” was spared, thanks to campaigning efforts by local environmentalists and foreign kitesurfers. The first stretch of the seawall – just 190 metres, to skirt a restriction in place at the time that requires coastal structure with more than 200 metres in length to undergo EIA – was completed in 2015. But the ecological impact became apparent as signs of erosion appeared on other parts of the beach, a phenomenon that never happened prior to the seawall. To fight the new erosion, more seawalls were planned, eventually spanning over 6 kilometres – out of the 8 kilometres of the entire beach area. In public consultation sessions, a local man said that officials enticed local residents with the promise that the seawall would not only halt erosion, but present the town with a new “tourist landmark,” a vision where concrete structure, not the town’s sandy beach, would bring in visitors from all over.