Beach

[Tom brookes]

We have visited koi sumui many times. This will ,unfortunately be my last.The beach where we are staying is more like a rubbish tip. I have never seen a beach so polluted.i,ve seen needles, polystyrene,flip flops,bottles,.today I took a photo of a dialysis bag(this must be hospital waist being dumped in the sea). The hotel clean their bit of beach many times in the day, but walk either side and all you see is rubbish.If you want to keep tourist coming CLEAN UP.

[bwpage3]

Beach not Beech!

[khunPer]

45 minutes ago, Tom brookes said:

We have visited koi sumui many times.

Probably your first time during the monsoon season.

 

Debris from sea comes in all the time during the rainy season, typically lasting from November till early January.

 

After downpour, where river water runs into the sea, you can clean all day, and still new debris comes in – it's a Sisyphus work. I talk from experience, I've been living beachfront on Samui for 10 years.

 

Some of the beachfront landowners clean their front, when there's a long break in rain and waves, or after the monsoon season.

 

Volunteers from the villages by the beaches helps cleaning the beaches every year before the tourists arrives (photo from 2018).

 

In older time many resorts closed from November 1st till just before Xmas, and not reopening because of weather, but because of people from abroad wish to spend their year end festival on the island.

 

Beach cleaning in 2011, the monsoon that year was extremely bad with debris...

 

 

[Birdman]

I live right at the sea on Samui since 91, first time Samui 86 as a young long haired hippie, and swim almost every day out to the horizon and back for an hour. Did not notice any increase in pollution at all. It´s wonderful. Only thing I worry about are jellyfish. There were none until a few years ago. Have even seen some this year, small ones, in the water in front of my house.      

[30la]

On 12/2/2019 at 7:15 PM, khunPer said:

Probably your first time during the monsoon season.

 

Debris from sea comes in all the time during the rainy season, typically lasting from November till early January.

 

After downpour, where river water runs into the sea, you can clean all day, and still new debris comes in – it's a Sisyphus work. I talk from experience, I've been living beachfront on Samui for 10 years.

 

Some of the beachfront landowners clean their front, when there's a long break in rain and waves, or after the monsoon season.

 

Volunteers from the villages by the beaches helps cleaning the beaches every year before the tourists arrives (photo from 2018).

 

In older time many resorts closed from November 1st till just before Xmas, and not reopening because of weather, but because of people from abroad wish to spend their year end festival on the island.

 

Beach cleaning in 2011, the monsoon that year was extremely bad with debris...

 

 

I lived and worked in Samui from 8/1995 - 2/2017, the only clean beaches were those of Lama, Chaweng, Bophut and Maenam in front of the hotels, on the right and left however dirt, and not only during the monsoons!
Other beaches, totally covered with dirt all year round!

Maybe something has changed recently.

[pikao]

On 12/2/2019 at 8:32 PM, Birdman said:

Only thing I worry about are jellyfish. There were none until a few years ago. Have even seen some this year, small ones, in the water in front of my house. 

"StingerSuits" available at "All Scuba Solutions" on Koh Phangan

[khunPer]

38 minutes ago, 30la said:

I lived and worked in Samui from 8/1995 - 2/2017, the only clean beaches were those of Lama, Chaweng, Bophut and Maenam in front of the hotels, on the right and left however dirt, and not only during the monsoons!
Other beaches, totally covered with dirt all year round!

Maybe something has changed recently.

Do you know that you can "walk" many of the Samui-beaches with Google Street View and check if the are dirty "all year round"...?

 

I do not know the condition of the beaches back from 1995, but shortly after the millennium I've been a regular visitor, and long-term expat. I have not observed the same as you, apart from some few places where rivers runs out – for example the river by Bang Rak pier by the fish-market, and that spot is awful – and on top of the long "Samui Boat Lagoon" piers by Deva Resort (next to Big Buddha), probably blown up the during monsoon, and it's a place hardly anyone walk (but me one day in 2016 snapping a the photo below). Most ocean pollution are said to originate from rivers. a scientific study claims 90 percent, and there might be some truth in that.

 

 

Edit: PS: It seems like someone has cleaned out there – and burnt the garbage – as the impression in Google Street View is (much) better...????

[Chongalulu]

You should be on the Andaman side especially at this time of year. Just returned from Ko Lanta. Quieter and much better atmosphere than Samui unless you like that kind of cynical tackiness . 

[cranki]

32 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Do you know that you can "walk" many of the Samui-beaches with Google Street View and check if the are dirty "all year round"...?

 

I do not know the condition of the beaches back from 1995, but shortly after the millennium I've been a regular visitor, and long-term expat. I have not observed the same as you, apart from some few places where rivers runs out – for example the river by Bang Rak pier by the fish-market, and that spot is awful – and on top of the long "Samui Boat Lagoon" piers by Deva Resort (next to Big Buddha), probably blown up the during monsoon, and it's a place hardly anyone walk (but me one day in 2016 snapping a the photo below). Most ocean pollution are said to originate from rivers. a scientific study claims 90 percent, and there might be some truth in that.

 

 

Edit: PS: It seems like someone has cleaned out there – and burnt the garbage – as the impression in Google Street View is (much) better...????

Google street view is not updated on a yearly basis, so you'd be looking at the same view this year if it was taken 4-5 years ago...such as the link you supplied above.

[angloirishaussie]

3 hours ago, nchuckle said:

You should be on the Andaman side especially at this time of year. Just returned from Ko Lanta. Quieter and much better atmosphere than Samui unless you like that kind of cynical tackiness . 

a bit elitist mate

[Birdman]

4 hours ago, nchuckle said:

You should be on the Andaman side especially at this time of year. Just returned from Ko Lanta. Quieter and much better atmosphere than Samui unless you like that kind of cynical tackiness . 

On Samui you can have everything a tense palm tree island can offer and more. There are also beaches with nothing at all but nature.

Extremely boring that kind of naive comparison. 

[RickG16]

Where did you stay?

[khunPer]

9 hours ago, cranki said:

Google street view is not updated on a yearly basis, so you'd be looking at the same view this year if it was taken 4-5 years ago...such as the link you supplied above.

The question was "...beaches, totally covered with dirt all year round" so recently update is not important...????

 

The comment with Street View specific for the pier was that it seems like someone is cleaning also there.

[aussiee]

Just wrong time of year - always been the same when the prevailing north/east monsoon is blowing onto the beaches.  From about  June to October is the opposite with winds blowing offshore.

Enclose a pic of Lamai taken about July a couple of years ago - can be very clear when there is no swell.

, and never any <deleted> washing up on the beach.

[Tropicalevo]

19 hours ago, 30la said:

I lived and worked in Samui from 8/1995 - 2/2017, the only clean beaches were those of Lama, Chaweng, Bophut and Maenam in front of the hotels, on the right and left however dirt, and not only during the monsoons!
Other beaches, totally covered with dirt all year round!

Maybe something has changed recently.

That is a very myopic and inaccurate view that you are presenting. Did you actually get out much?

I have live here for 20 years and I regularly walk the beaches in my area. Samrong Bay, Tongson Bay, Plai Laem beach etc.

As KhunPer has mentioned, after a monsoon there is always debris on the beach. That is true the whole world over. Even on Koh Lanta!

I now never go to Chaweng, Lamai or Bophut beaches and so I cannot comment about them.

I do, however, visit other quiet beaches on a regular but not frequent basis.

I can confirm (with authority) that they are not "Other beaches, totally covered with dirt all year round!"

Sorry, your inaccuracy shows your ignorance. Please go and troll elsewhere. (Did your business fail?)

 

Note to the OP. Get out and about more. It is a beautiful island .

[RickG16]

On 12/6/2019 at 9:15 AM, Tropicalevo said:

 

Note to the OP. Get out and about more. It is a beautiful island .

It's all about getting out and exploring. But we have to consider that some people might not ride a motorbike. Which certainly makes it trickier to have true freedom when exploring the island.

[evadgib]

2 hours ago, RickG16 said:

It's all about getting out and exploring. But we have to consider that some people might not ride a motorbike. Which certainly makes it trickier to have true freedom when exploring the island.

This lot do just that every Saturday...????

https://www.facebook.com/kohsamuihash/

[RickG16]

9 minutes ago, evadgib said:

This lot do just that every Saturday...????

https://www.facebook.com/kohsamuihash/

That's great. Never heard about that.

 

I don't live on the island, but I really don't think I would have got to know Samui as much without a motorbike. 

[Airbagwill]

On 12/2/2019 at 8:32 PM, Birdman said:

Only thing I worry about are jellyfish. There were none until a few years ago

This is extremely unlikely - Little is still known about the box jellies in the region, but Thailand has always been in the jellyfish zone ....... it is far more likely to be a combination of factors the increase in sightings being down to more people looking and more people being in the sea. Any increase in numbers is not scientifically proven yet: is possible that pollution and reduction in turtle populations may have had an effect or even climate change, but the fact remains that South Thailand has always been in the box jellies' range.