The Mekong Delta plays an important role as ‘rice bowl’ for the whole of Vietnam. Rapid expansion of shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta has contributed to economic growth and poverty reduction, but has been  accompanied by rising concerns over environmental and social impacts. Thousands of hectares of mangrove forest were converted into shrimp farms in the last decade. The lack of an integrated approach to sustainable management, utilization and protection of the coastal zone and economic interests in shrimp farming have led to the unsustainable use of natural resources, thus threatening the protection function of the mangrove forest belt and, in turn, reducing income for local communities.
In our research, we focused on Soc Trang province, which deals with all these issues on an accelerated rate. The coastal zone is also affected by the impacts of climate change, which is predicted to cause increased intensity and frequency of storms, floods and droughts, increased saline intrusion, land subsidence, higher rainfall during the rainy season and rising sea levels. The aim of this research was a design of sustainable coastal protection system that is comprehensive and inclusive. As a starting point, an inventory during an onsite analysis was conducted to determine the status of the study area. In this way it was possible to determine the acceptability and strategy per study location. This was led by development of designs per strategy per study location including calculations, geotechnical verification (Plaxis® 2D), technical drawings and budgetary analysis. From there we conducted analytics, which resulted in the discussion and conclusion. It is concluded that Sustainable coastal protection systems can potentially address these issues. For location A, the Traditional strategy was shown to be the most costeffective. For study area B however, Managed Realignment was the most efficient, both in costs and in sustainability. Therefore, being able to improve safety, ecology and profits in the area.