Abstract
Coastal areas are designated as areas between sea and land. Accordingly, coastal areas have been influenced by activities and phenomena not only in sea areas but also lands. Coastal areas are used for various purposes such as providing food, transportation, industries andrecreation. However, environmental problems have occurred in coastal areas due to inappropriate use of environmental resources. These problems have various types, and so do their causes. Especially in developing countries, the coastal environmental problems have become serious. In this paper, the coastal environmental problems in South and Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Maldives, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand have been identified based on the analysis with collected secondary data, interview surveys and field surveys. As a result, causes of the coastal environmental problems can be characterized from the points of view: 1) shoreline types; 2) an inappropriate use of environmental resources; and 3) a capability of environmental administrative bodies.
