bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Thailand may have to consider relocating its capital Bangkok because of rising sea levels, a senior official in the country’s climate change office said on Wednesday.
Projections consistently show that low-lying Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century.
Much of the bustling capital already battles flooding during the rainy season.
Pavich Kesavawong, deputy director general of the government’s department of climate change and environment, warned that the city might not be able to adapt with the world on its current warming pathway.
“I think we are beyond the 1.5 [degrees Celsius] already,” he said, referring to the increase in global temperatures from pre-industrial levels.
“Now we have to come back and think about adaptation.”
“I imagine Bangkok will be underwater already, if we stay in our [current] circumstance.”

Bangkok’s city government is exploring measures that include building dykes, along the lines of those used in the Netherlands, he said.
But “we’ve been thinking about moving”, Pavich said, noting that the discussions were still hypothetical and the issue was “very complex”.
“Personally I think it’s a good choice, so we can separate the capital, the government areas, and business areas,” he said.
“Bangkok [would] still be the government capital, but move the business.”
While a move is still a long way from being adopted as policy, it would not be unprecedented in the region.
Indonesia will inaugurate this year its new capital Nusantara, which will replace sinking and polluted Jakarta as the country’s political centre.
The mammoth move has been controversial and extremely expensive, with an estimated price tag of US$32 billion-US$35 billion.
Thailand is suffering the effects of climate change across a range of sectors, from farmers struggling with heat and drought to tourism businesses affected by coral bleaching and pollution.
It has closed several national parks in response to recent coral bleaching and Pavich said further closures were possible.
“We have to save our nature, so we think that we will do any measure to protect our resources,” he said.


However, Pavich acknowledged that government efforts to tackle the growing problem of air pollution, particularly in Thailand’s north, had yet to bear fruit.
Legislation focused on clean air passed this year and Pavich said national parks officials had stepped up efforts to prevent and put out fires in protected areas.
“The agriculture sector is very challenging for us,” he said, referring to continued post-harvest burning that is a major contributor to seasonal haze. An improvement is not likely for several years.
More immediately, his department – part of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment – is pushing Thailand’s first climate change legislation, which has been in the works since at least 2019 but was shelved during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pavich said the legislation, which includes provisions on everything from carbon pricing to mitigation and adaptation measures, is likely to pass into law this year.
Thailand is targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, and net-zero by 2065.


Thailand sentences alleged cyanide serial killer to death

Malaysia’s Anthony Loke pitches pan-Asian rail as buffer for any South China Sea fallout

Can Kuala Lumpur unseat Singapore and Bangkok as Southeast Asia’s aviation hub?

Future-proofing rice: how Asia’s farmers are innovating against climate odds

Thailand

Will climate change push Thailand to move its capital Bangkok?

Tourists at Bangkok’s Temple of Dawn. Projections consistently show that low-lying Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century. Photo: EPA-EFE

Customers feed fishes in a flooded noodle shop at the banks of Tha Chin river in Nakhon Pathom, in the outskirts of Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

Southeast Asia heatwave: Thailand’s heat index tops 52 degrees as Philippines risks ‘overloaded’ power systems

Chinese tourists use a parasol to shield themselves from the sun as they visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok on Monday. Deaths related to heat have risen to about 30 in Thailand this year. Photo: EPA-EFE

A woman uses an electric fan to cool down in Bangkok on Monday, as temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius. Photo: EPA-EFE

Bangkok’s trash-choked Chao Phraya river to be cleared of tonnes of plastic waste

The Ocean Cleanup’s ‘Interceptor’ clears floating trash out of Bangkok’s rubbish-clogged Chao Praya river. Photo: The Ocean Cleanup

Boyan Slat, the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, pictured in Bangkok on Monday. Photo: AFP

Plastic, other trash and plant debris collected from Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river are seen on board The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor on Monday. Photo: AFP

Philippine transgender beauty contestant soothes ruffled feathers over Bangkok street fight

Philippine transgender beauty pageant participant Lars Pacheco denounced the Filipinos for “doing something serious” and hoped the fracas would not affect bilateral ties. Photo: Instagram/pachecolars

Ladyboys, as transwomen are called in Thailand, stand on a street in central Bangkok. Thai transgender people have issued a rallying cry to their compatriots on social media, with nationalism-tinged posts urging them to assemble outside the hotel where the Filipinos were staying. Photo: Tibor Krausz

‘Not acceptable’ for Israel to use money to retain Thai workers, PM Srettha Thavisin says

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has urged all Thai workers to leave the war zone. Photo: Reuters

Thai-Muslim demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against Israel and in solidarity with the Palestinian people at the Israeli embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A woman lights candles in remembrance of the victims of the Hamas attacks on Israel, during an event on Tuesday organised by the Israeli embassy in Bangkok. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

A senior official in Thailand’s climate change office thinks a move could be possible, with much of the capital already battling floods during the rainy season
Projections consistently show Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century


A senior official in Thailand’s climate change office thinks a move could be possible, with much of the capital already battling floods during the rainy season.


Climate change

Environment

Extreme weather

Bangkok

Will climate change push Thailand to move its capital Bangkok?

A senior official in Thailand’s climate change office thinks a move could be possible, with much of the capital already battling floods during the rainy season Projections consistently show Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century

A senior official in Thailand’s climate change office thinks a move could be possible, with much of the capital already battling floods during the rainy season

Projections consistently show Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century