WHILE THE climate-change talks in Bangkok have considered as failing to ensure a global pact for December's Copenhagen summit, the recent visit by UN officials and major environmental groups has offered an important reminder for Thais - distracted by political woes and moves to avoid a "second" financial crisis - of the serious challenges this country is facing.
Tours led by environmental groups this month showed how the globe is already warming up and has "eaten" away considerable chunks of the Gulf of Thailand coast.
One only has to journey to Bang Khunthien, on Bangkok's southern edge, to witness the disturbing impact of rising seas, plus land subsidence caused by excessive groundwater extraction. This economically important area has been badly affected by this dangerous combination.
Here, a small concrete outpost marks the formal boundary of the capital - several hundred metres out to sea. Tourists have to venture out by boat, past a line of half-submerged power poles and a popular seafood restaurant, built on top of hundreds of bamboo poles.
Residents along the coast have been networking to seek additional resources, as it seems the relentless advance of the sea will only be stemmed with serious communal effort and state aid.
Dr Janaka de Silva, the Thailand coordinator for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), accompanied journalists on a tour to this site during the UN talks. The Bang Khunthien coast was, he said, one example of significant coastal erosion on the Gulf of Thailand likely to have been made worse by climate change.
De Silva was quoting statistics from the 2007 Thailand Environment Monitor report by the World Bank, which shows a considerable proportion of the Gulf being lost - 11 per cent of the coast is losing more than 5 metres a year to erosion and 18 per cent between one and five metres a year.
The Andaman coast, however, is "much more stable". About 88 per cent has been classed as stable or "positive", with 10 per cent of the coast losing between one and five metres to erosion and 2 per cent losing more than five metres of land a year.
The World Bank report said the value of this lost real estate was considerable, with 2 square kilometres worth an estimated US$156 million (Bt5.22 billion).
While some industry figures have suggested that Bangkok may need a large sea wall, similar to those in the Netherlands, the IUCN also advocates nature-based solutions, such as protecting mangroves, sand dunes, sea-grass beds and coral reefs.
Sandbag embankments have been quite effective in some sites, but the sand sometimes got leached away. Scientists across Asia are now stressing the vital roles mangroves play.
"The role of mangroves in trapping sediment is very important, apart from sustaining livelihoods and acting as a natural buffer against extreme weather conditions," he said.
Coastal areas are important fishing sites so "interventions should maintain those traditional livelihoods", de Silva said.
Six villages in the Bang Khunthien area have formed the Save Bangkok Sea and Environment Network to try and save the coast and their shrimp farms. Community leaders recalled times when they were young - 40 or 50 years ago - and could walk through the mangrove forest to see the sea, 200m past the marker, which is now half under water.
In the late 80s, academics from Chulalongkorn University helped locals build a 4.7-kilometre-long rock wall to stem the advance of the sea, and despite five years of dumping more rocks (up to 1994) the wall has disappeared with the rocks having sunk into the mud.
"It's very sad to see the land disappear like this, because this area is like the kitchen of Bangkok," a local said. He feared that in another 30 years the sea would reach Rama II Road.
Further west along the Upper Gulf, villagers in Kok Kham in Samut Sakhon were happy to show how Bt5 million in government aid had helped them build bamboo sea barriers to break up waves and allow sediment to build up and mangroves to grow.
Local fishermen have also been cooperating by not trawling in front of the fenced areas, which in turn is helping marine life recover to the point where Irrawaddy dolphins have been sighted in the area once again.
There are other success stories as well. Several hours south, in the Pranburi estuary, the PTT funded a mangrove forest project on 786 rai of land in the mid-90s. Land utterly degraded by shrimp farming is now a lush forest 10 metres high, with dozens of aquatic species and birds returning.
This site, not far from the Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin, now has a learning centre where people can come to "see how it's done".
This same battle is being fought on umpteen fronts throughout Asia. People in Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia and Vietnam's Mekong Delta face similar problems. Large numbers of people live in low-lying coastal areas, some of which are vital growing areas.
The lessons from the recent climate talks seem obvious.
Why wait while the rich world bickers over funding? Much can be done now with just small- and medium-sized state grants. With groups like IUCN advising local communities, the skills and knowledge is already here.