VIDEO: Na Jomtien beach polluted with putrid wastewater - tourists urged to stay away

[moontang]

maybe if they could only swim...

[Odisan]

6 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Think I first visited Pattaya in the late 90s and it was a $hithole then. Anybody know the approx year/years it all went wrong??

What year did you arrive, again?

You line 'em up, and I'll knock 'em in - kaboosh... ????

[Pattaya46]

Hi. I am unsure where exactly was this pollution, because I walk along Na Jomtien beach early this morning and the water was crystal clear 

 

Photo taken this morning 

[littlepe]

Looks like it is the outflow between the glasshouse and the ambassador, if you look at an aerial view it follows the shoreline, goes under the ambassador and then heads inland.

[Pattaya46]

10 minutes ago, littlepe said:

Looks like it is the outflow between the glasshouse and the ambassador, if you look at an aerial view it follows the shoreline, goes under the ambassador and then heads inland.

From another article, the pollution started at Na Jomtien Soi 8,

but looks like all traces disappeared during the night.

 

BTW, the pic above is from The GlassHouse beach

[bbi1]

I would stick with swimming in the chlorinated swimming pool in my condo complex. Should be safer as the water is bright blue ????????????

[Suetape]

It's disgusting what the government has let happen to their paradise.   You're probably tired of hearing old folks like me mention how nice it was back in the day but here I go:  

Wongamat was really "heaven on earth" in 69-70 when my wife and I lived there.   If it wasn't for old friends I would keep away.    

[Henryford]

"Visit other beachs" ha ha they are all the same.

[Pattaya46]

7 hours ago, toenail said:

Note: Pattaya is known to have plenty of income from the tax revenue to afford new raw sewage plants. The problem is the city would never maintain them if they did purchase a couple raw sewage processing plants. The place is truly an armpit of Thailand

 

Could you please explain to me how Pattaya is concerned by this pollution?

FYI this beach at Na Jomtien Soi 8 is part of Sattahip District, not Pattaya District... 

[newnative]

Bring on the bad publicity--scads of it. And, hopefully, it will go wide. World-wide.  Only very bad publicity will occasionally get something done.  The problem is this:  You can't put new sewer treatment efforts on a postcard.  So, no new sewer treatment efforts.  New, wide beaches, yes--looks nice on a postcard so we have new, wide beaches. With dirty ocean.   But, we can hope that someone in authority will think: new sewer treatment efforts today might mean a cleaner ocean down the road--which will look nice on a postcard.

[e2x10]

they put all the tools to work

 

[MarkyM3]

Not directly related to this but I was in the Ban Chang area a month back and the beach was pretty shocking - full of garbage and the water looked dirty as well. Waste water from the village was going directly into the sea, surprise surprise.

 

On the drive down from Bangkok you couldn't help notice the amount of tossed rubbish at the side of the road as well. A real shame. 

 

If it wasn't for the fact I'm in a long term relationship with a Thai lady (I split my time between UK and Thailand because I still work) then I'd be looking at other locations in Asia to wind down in. 

[finnomick1]

Rather than fix the problem we can blame heavy rain for washing this waste into the sea. Having a sewage and waste water system would be an improvement but how about educating the population first ? A few years ago I had a repair done on my grass cutter which involved draining the engine oil. Where did the mechanic drain it......down the drain of course. Where else could he dispose of it ?

[roger101]

9 hours ago, toenail said:

Seeing how focusing on making a fast profit and not thinking of proper city zoning, building codes, and protecting the environment was more important to government crony officials is a sad process to watch. I remember my first visit to Thailand back in ‘82 and the beaches were pristine ( and it really was a land of smiles).
Sad before mass tourism and development took over Thailand could not learn from the Western (developed) countries’ mistakes...but Thailand takes pride “doing things their way”.



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

My first trip to Pattaya was also in 82. The first time I went into the sea for a swim I cut my foot open on a broken bottle.

[wreckingcountry]

Wongamat Beach, Pattaya Bay...Jomtien Beach are nothing but cesspools with the clueless city officials always turning their heads doing nothing to solve this issue.
Note: Pattaya is known to have plenty of income from the tax revenue to afford new raw sewage plants. The problem is the city would never maintain them if they did purchase a couple raw sewage processing plants. The place is truly an armpit of Thailand, 

Perfectly summed up! The tax revenues that Pattaya brings in warrants the latest sewage plant technology available ! But the only sewage are those running the sewer of the Pattaya government


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Pattaya46]

5 minutes ago, wreckingcountry said:

Perfectly summed up! The tax revenues that Pattaya brings in warrants the latest sewage plant technology available ! But the only sewage are those running the sewer of the Pattaya government

And what about Sattahip? Doesn't Sattahip District get some taxes or revenues from the huge space used by the Navy bases and the airport? This area of Na Jomtien depends of Sattahip District. Why this pollution problem?

[mommysboy]

10 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Yep! That is seriously nasty. I have been here 12 years and stopped going into the water anywhere near Pattaya and Jomtien about 11 years ago, as the water is always shitty to some degree. Stupidly all those years ago, I thought the council would address the problem, though as is apparent from these pictures, and the puzzled commentary on its origin, they have no clue whatsoever how to address the situation. Swimmers not wanting nasty infections or to die, should definitely stay out of the water here.

'I have been here 12 years and stopped going into the water anywhere near Pattaya and Jomtien about 11 years ago,'

 

What took you so long?  ????

[potless]

2 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

Could you please explain to me how Pattaya is concerned by this pollution?

FYI this beach at Na Jomtien Soi 8 is part of Sattahip District, not Pattaya District..

There was a similar problem with Sattahip a few years back regarding raw sewage going into the sea. They couldnt care less and refused to take responsibility. A Pattaya Mail article as I recall.

[phantomfiddler]

Alas the most disgusting beaches I have ever seen have been in Thailand, and nothing is going to change in the near future until the authorities realize that sewage treatment plants are NOT some useless farang contraptions, and actually build and maintain some wherever there are substantial populations. A proper treatment plant requires constant supervision, monitoring of effluent quality, and (unfortunately) wages to be paid for people to actually perform the work ????

[chilli42]

I moved to Thailand in 1989.  Pattaya was different than today but still a pestilent shithole.  My uncle lived there right after the Vietnamese war of independence mid 1970’s.  He described Pattaya as a charming fishing village.  My uncle was rarely sober.  So taking a date between these to points it may have gone sideways in the early 1980’s

[55Jay]

7 hours ago, meshborg said:

Ive been holidaying Thailand over 11 years but had enough.The bad traffic,bad hygene mass tourism and general contempt for health and safety is out of control.I got nasty virus from air conditioning unit i believe this year and still suffering 4 months later back in U.K. ...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

All well and good to say that here on TVF.  If you put that on a popular Facebook site, and it went viral, that's the only way you'll get a reaction.  Otherwise, you're pissing in the wind, mate.

[fullcave]

8 hours ago, PEE TEE said:

i have seen the ferries dumping old oil.

All Thai boats change their oil in the sea. It's part of the Thai culture just like noise, smoke and litter it's macho. TIT

[stvette2002]

12 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

Actually,Thailand is pretty much all armpits.Rampant greed coupled with laziness and cargo-cultism leads to the inevitable.."we don't mind and you don't matter."

I lived in Pattaya beach for 2.5 years about 3 years ago and never went into the water after the first day. We lived at the Markland and I found out that the sewage was in a pit at the bottom of the parking garage so close it allows the water to seep into the Gulf. I did a quick research and found that the Chinese had either supplied or sold 110 sewage plants but less then half are still operating and they really are just for show as they have no person capable of maintaining them. The infrastructure is not in place anyway for a central sewage plant. The more they build without requirement to hook up to a plant the more expensive it becomes to create the necessary was to treat sewage. It is to cheap to just dump it into the Gulf.  

[mike787]

8 hours ago, geisha said:

I have seen videos of black water seeping into Jomtien water early morning during high season. Filmed by condo owners from View Talay , apparently it happens quite often. Disgusting that authorities are allowing such a health hazard !

They allow because they DO NOT care.  That simple.

[webfact]

UPDATE:

 

Pattaya offers helping hand as wastewater from Na Jom Thian pollutes sea

By The Nation

 

Black wastewater flows on to Chon Buri’s Na Jomtien Beach on Saturday, causing alarm among locals and tourists. Photo credit FB WELOVEPATTAYA

 

THE PATTAYA Municipality chief has instructed Na Jom Thian municipality to divert its wastewater to the Pattaya central wastewater treatment pond as part of urgent measures to halt wastewater discharge into the sea.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1101650-pattaya-offers-helping-hand-as-wastewater-from-na-jom-thian-pollutes-sea/

[somnumna]

8 hours ago, roger101 said:

My first trip to Pattaya was also in 82. The first time I went into the sea for a swim I cut my foot open on a broken bottle.

I cut my foot on a broken bottle on Herm Island 45 years ago at the start of our holiday......  Ruined my holiday...... I was a kid.. 

[adammike]

19 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

A sad black eye for those Jomtien braggarts who bad mouth Pattaya with claims Jomtien beach is "pristine".

But I guess if the tourists stay away the solitude over the weekend could be nice..

I've never seen Jomtien beach described as "pristine" only that it's better than the beach in Pattaya and that's true.The water is not better I have seen turds floating and the plastic is a national disgrace and the trash left on beach road in Jomtien every evening is shocking.

 

 

 

 

 

[Thechook]

Only an idiot would venture into the waters of Thailand their beaches are by far the worst in the world 

[samuttodd]

When you fly into any town in the states,  you can see the wastewater treatment plant... 

 

When flying into Bangkok,   you do not see any of them.    Why could that be?

 

The mindset that dilution is the solution for polution may be partly true,  but at some point it will have to be formally addressed.

 

My back yard is a river with brobably 40 milion souls upstream,   none of which has more than a  sewer cistern that outflows to the river when it rains.   

 

We don't do much swimming.  Once in a while we see  a jetski... If a guy wanted hepatitis,   I can't think of a better place for an exposure than that river.

[howbri]

I live in Jomtien and NEVER swim at the beach. Only the pool at condo.