Sichon locals want estuary to be dredged

Sediment threatens fishermen livelihoods

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Locals are urging authorities to dredge the Tha Mak estuary in Sichon district to enable fishermen to go out to sea and return safely while also easing floods.

They must navigate the shallow river mouth on a regular basis, and some fishermen have decided to dock their boats elsewhere.

The issue was brought up at a recent forum hosted by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to collect input from residents on how to conserve the coastline and prevent flooding in a sustainable manner.

Erosion is a key point in the government’s 20 year-reform plan for coastal areas. Under this plan, it wants to reduce areas affected by erosion to only 100 kilometres.

But the hot topic at the forum attended by more than 300 people and representatives from state agencies was the sediment buildup that is threatening people’s livelihoods.

For local fishermen, their livelihoods are at stake because they cannot go out to fish during low tide. For others, the shallow river mouth has exposed inner areas to the risk of flooding.

The Tha Mak estuary receives water from several canals, including Klong Tha Thon and Klong Tha Chiew, in five tambons of the district.

The river mouth has become too shallow in recent years for local fishing vessels to use safely. Moreover, the sediment buildup has slowed water flow and caused severe flooding in two tambons of Sao Pao and Thung Prang.

State agencies should allocate resources to dredge the river mouth, fishermen insist and they suggest that barriers be built to prevent coastal erosion and weirs be constructed in Klong Tha Thon and Klong Tha Chiew.

Department director-general Jatuporn Buruspat has agreed to coordinate with the Marine Department to dredge the navigation channel to alleviate hardship.

However, he expressed caution about the suggestion that barriers should be built to stabilise the shoreline.

According to Mr Jatuporn, further studies are needed on how to prevent coastal erosion.

He said the erosion is caused by man and nature and noted that concrete barriers have so far failed to work.

“Tackling coastal erosion is an urgent issue in the province. A team of inspectors will visit the area to gather information first hand and find solutions,” he said.

The forum is part of the department’s campaign to brainstorm ideas in coastal provinces on how to better handle the impact of coastal erosion on residents’ livelihoods and property.

In the past 50 years, 25% of Thailand’s 3,151km coastline has been eroded and 559km of 800km of eroded shoreline has been restored, the department said.

Based on on-site surveys over the past three years, department specialists have found that certain methods of coastal rejuvenation have failed to work and created more problems.

Concrete walls erected in an attempt to stem erosion along Laem Tulum Phuk, as well as beaches in Pak Phanang and Hua Sai districts of Nakhon Si Thammarat have only worsened erosion.

Erecting bamboo poles as erosion barriers and planting mangrove forests in several provinces including Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram has been found to have significantly mitigated the problem, the department said.