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 own properties but the erosion was so severe that their ‘‘tiny’’ structures could not withstand wave force (Fig. 6h). People who could not afford to build their own protections had to abandon their shelters. Local govern- ments 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.