The erosion progressed fast while the feasibility study to select
appropriate mitigation measures undertaken by the Marine
Department was relatively much slower. Shrimp farmers who had
enough money put up structures to protect their ownproperties but
the erosion was so severe that their ‘‘tiny’’ structures could not
withstandwave force (Fig. 6h). People who could not afford to build
their own protections had to abandon their shelters. Local governments
started responding to the problem by driving wooden piles
into the sand, hoping to retard the erosion (Fig. 6c) but this action
was not successful (Fig. 6d). Obviously, the erosion problem could
not be solved by the local communities and their local governments
because they were technically and financially incapable.