Climate change — if we do not see it on our doorsteps, will we feel its drastic effects on our lives?

“Parallel World” is another world where minutes pass and never end, as if it would never cross with “our” world. We may have caught sight of it but never really see it. We listen to its sounds, but we never really hear them. This “other” world exists in parallel, yet we feel nothing to do with it.

Ban Khun Samut Chin, a village in Samut Prakan Province only forty kilometers away from the center of Bangkok, is fighting for its life. It is the area most affected by coastal erosion in Thailand. As Google Earth Timelapse from 1984 until now (2023) shows, an average of approximately one kilometer of coastal land has already gone, not to mention the declining number of households from 250 to only 90. Some families had to move their homes 11 times further inland. For them, the fight against climate change is long and has become a part of their lives.

The villagers vividly remember the land they once lived in, where they could easily catch prawns and crabs with their bare hands. Unfortunately, that fertile ground is no more, consumed by climate change brought on by human hands. The ecological destruction is massive and widespread, from upstream to downstream, with man-made dams obstructing the waterways and urban expansion. The impact of human civilization on the Chao Phraya River estuaries is irreversible and far-reaching in many ways.

Climate Central (2019) data show that sea levels will rise 2.1 meters by 2100. The flooding will affect 300 million people along the coastlands of India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. By then, Ban Khun Samut Chin would be wiped off the map of Thailand. 

The world is our home, and so is Ban Khun Samut Chin. We are all connected to everything, inseparable from nature. The “Parallel World” is also our world.

If we continue to only glance at it, one day, this invisible “Parallel World” will appear on our doorstep right before our eyes.