Effect of coastal prevention by beach and serious problems in some coasts of the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

Beach erosion in most of Thailand became significant in some many years ago. The causes of this change are considered to be the combination of human induced development and big waves. Though people tried to respond to it mainly by building seawall, there are many inappropriate elements in design and materials. In this research, the authors assessed the mangrove presence and beach change in coastal areas and analyzed the effective prevention to coastal disaster by beach using a lot of beach information gotten by the authors' field surveys, aerial photographs, wave and tidal data gotten from government organization. The authors introduce two serious problems on coastal disaster in the Gulf of Thailand, and propose countermeasures for those. Copyright © 2011 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).