Artificial mangrove roots helped mud settle on a Thai shore

Along one of Thailand's fastest-eroding shores, a set of artificial mangrove roots has started to hold mud in place. Mongabay reported on October 15, 2026, on a study of the first year of a trial in Phra Samut Chedi and elsewhere in Samut Prakan, where the Chao Phraya meets the Gulf of Thailand.

Researchers measured sediment building up behind the units at 10 of 11 sites, from 16 to 88 centimeters, depending on the spot. One site showed no clear change. Satellite views of untreated shoreline nearby still showed losses of more than 10 meters in places. The units, a wood-plastic trunk with rubber root-like arms, are meant to slow waves enough for suspended mud to drop. Senior author Butsawan Bidorn, of Chulalongkorn University, said the method cannot make land if the water is not already carrying sediment.

An engineer who was not on the team, Sompratana Ritphring of Kasetsart University, called the structures an enabling step at best. She said they need inspection and, in time, removal, so the coast is not left depending on plastic in the tide. At one site, farmers rebuilt mud dikes. At another, a landowner started planting mangroves again on a shore that had lost 21.5 hectares over two decades. The paper is early evidence from one delta, not a universal seawall.