Thailand may have to consider moving its capital away from Bangkok as sea levels continue to rise, according to a senior official at Thailand’s climate change office on May 16, 2024.
Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand, with a population of over 10 million. However, most areas in Bangkok often suffer from floods during the rainy season. Given the rise in sea levels caused by global warming and the city’s low-lying land, forecasts have consistently shown that Bangkok is likely to be submerged by seawater before the end of the century.
Pavich Kesavawong, deputy director of Thailand’s Environment Agency, has warned that Bangkok may not be able to adapt to the current warming trend. He also mentioned that Thai officials are taking precautions, such as learning from the Netherlands, a well-known low-lying country in Europe, by building embankments to block seawater intrusion. Moving the capital is also one of the options being considered to solve Bangkok’s flooding problem once and for all, though it is still at the hypothetical stage.
This is not the first time that Thailand has considered moving its capital. When former Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was in power, he also proposed the idea of moving the capital. He believed that Bangkok was too crowded and suggested that relocating the capital could solve this problem.
While the move is still a long way from being adopted as policy, it is not without precedent in Southeast Asia. For example, Nusantara is set to become the new capital of Indonesia this year, replacing the sinking and polluted Jakarta as the political center of the country. | A. Lee. BChannel News
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