The Sinking Village: Samut Chin witnessing dire consequences of global warming in Thailand

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As the host city of the Asia-Pacific Climate Week this year, Bangkok itself is struggling with environmental challenges, with experts warning it could be partially submerged in just over a decade. A village, south of the Thai capital, has already witnessed the dire consequences of global warming. Dusita Saokaew reports.

This is the idyllic fishing village of Samut Chin, around 60km south of Bangkok, peaceful and picturesque. But look a little closer and it starts to become eerie. Pierced into the sea, a line of equally spaced electric poles disappears into the horizon. The road that once ran parallel to the poles connecting houses, farms, markets and schools, is nowhere to be seen.

The very thing that makes Samut Chin so idyllic is also destroying it. Swallowed by the rising tide, all that's left are remnants of what this community was 30 years ago.

WANNA DARAYEN VILLAGER, SAMUT CHIN "There used to be mangroves surrounding this area, now it's all gone. We used to be able to walk everywhere, now we need bridges. It's all destroyed and getting around is difficult."

The steady destruction- a result of the deforestation of mangroves, the damming of rivers upstream and rising sea levels, has taken a huge toll on this once-thriving fishing community.

DUSITA SAOKAEW SAMUT CHIN "Less than half of the population remains in this once lively village. Many have had to move their homes, again and again, going farther inland and away from the advancing sea. Some families have been forced to leave the area altogether. Others are too poor to move or have nowhere else to go."

The only building that hasn't been claimed by the sea and relocated is this temple.

SOMNUEK ATHIPANYO KHUN SAMUT CHIN TEMPLE "If we don't stay, how will people know this community exists? If there is no temple, the people outside wouldn't be interested and this place would be forgotten."

His temple has become a symbol of the fight to restore the country's fast-eroding coastlines where 700 kilometers-are eroding "severely" from climate change. And Bangkok is being swallowed up a little more each day.

Like a brick resting on top of a cake, Bangkok sits on marshland – spongy and moist. All that steel, concrete and humanity is sinking the city into the Earth, around 2 cm per year. A strong storm can suddenly turn Bangkok's streets into gushing streams.

PROF. THANAWAT JARUPONGSAKUL PRESIDENT, THAILAND GLOBAL WARMING ACADEMY "The issue of Bangkok sinking is very real. Before that happens, we will see a lot of flooding, which is happening now whenever it rains. This is a short term effect which we will witness more frequently."

The long-term predictions are even more dire. By turn of the century, analysts believe Bangkok could be fully submerged and unlivable.

And as global participants meet in Bangkok for Asia Pacific Climate Week to discuss climate change, the villagers of Samut Chin won't have the luxury to engage. They are too busy fighting the consequences of it against an idyllic backdrop that is becoming ever so real.

Dusita Saokaew, CGTN, Samut Chin, Thailand.