‘Floating temple’ defies odds

Cut off from the world: The Buddhist temple isolated by coastal erosion in Samut Chin village. — AFP

SAMUT CHIN: As sea waters slowly rose around his temple and his neighbours fled inland, Thai abbot Somnuek Atipanyo refused to budge and is today a symbol of the fight to restore the country’s fast-eroding coastlines.

A dangerous combination of climate change, industrial farming and rapid urbanisation are endangering the Gulf of Thailand’s coasts, stripping away precious mangrove trees and leaving buildings like Somnuek’s surrounded by sea water.In the 30 years since the waters started encroaching, most of his neighbours in the fishing village of Samut Chin moved several hundred metres inland to rebuild their wooden homes.