Welcome to paradise! Filthy Samui beach is a disgrace say angry residents

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Welcome to paradise! Filthy Samui beach is a disgrace say angry residents

 

Picture: 77Jowo

 

SAMUI: -- Residents of Mae Nam on holiday isle Koh Samui called in reporters to get something done after their beach has been turned into a filthy, rubbish infested dump.

 

They are worried about the dangers to health of going in the sea - not that tourists are taking that risk. Visitors won't even walk past and certainly are not going to risk their lives in the black and stinky water.

 

The residents said that it has been like this for ages, hence their appeal to the press. They have gone to the local authority to say that it is awful for residents, tourist operators on the beach and tourists alike but nothing has been done at all.

 

TNews (77Jowo) said that the disgusting water was flowing directly from a local community into the sea. In addition to the sewage and stench there was also a lot of discarded trash in the vicinity making it terrible for the image of tourism on the island.

 

Anybody from the TAT or Tourism and Sports Ministry reading this?

 

Mae Nam residents need you to help get something done.

 

Source: TNews (77Jowo)

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-05-12

[steven100]

well clean it up instead of complaining ....  

[Rhys]

..implement a trash program and enforcement ...

[trogers]

The problem is that all storm drainage ends on the roads that border the beaches. There is no proper drainage into the sea, like the one that Nemo escaped  from Sidney harbour. 

 

Seems all beaches are prime land and are privately owned...

[Thechook]

I never swim in a thai beach, they are disgusting and I value my health.  

[Jonathan Fairfield]

If there is no official response maybe the guys from Trash Hero Koh Samui are reading this.

 

The Trash Hero movement does great work all across Thailand, they've certainly really helped to improve the cleanliness of beaches in Hua Hin and surrounding area. 

[samuijimmy]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

The problem is that all storm drainage ends on the roads that border the beaches. There is no proper drainage into the sea, like the one that Nemo escaped  from Sidney harbour. 

 

Seems all beaches are prime land and are privately owned...

 

Beaches all belong to the crown, there are no private beaches. 

[williamgeorgeallen]

it is not just the trash which could probably be solved or at least helped by getting the islands incinerator running again. the black water is probably septic overflow. septic tanks are ok in areas with low population but once the ground can no longer absorb the water it has to flow some where.

[Monkeyrobot]

Wait until the wet season comes, it will only get worse.

[samuijimmy]

It's a wonder the businesses on that street, which  is Soi 4 Maenam., (Walking street on Thursdays) just don't get together to clean up at least the garbage. 

 

A fairly high class foreign owned resort and restaurant next to this area too...helping  cleaning up would probably be good for business . 

 

The water flow problem has been there for years... from the drains along the street...and no doubt from some overflowing septic tanks, going by the smell.

 

View from where the story is about... at least most of Maenam beach is not  that bad! 

[Thunder26]

3 hours ago, Thechook said:

I never swim in a thai beach, they are disgusting and I value my health.  

Try different islands or  Sattahip beaches. They are quite clean in my opinion.

[ronaldo0]

Whole island is turning into a dump.

Im pretty sure what I seen yesterday was happening in maenam. It looked like there were two large hoses coming from the back off a main road property area  and they were both going into the Main Street drain. I'm guessing either emptying waste from something or their septic tanks straight into the streets.

I have also went from south to north of island for last 4 days and every day I have seen piles off garbage just lying at the side off the roads, not one has been picked up !!

Its only going to get far worse and nobody will care until its to late and nobody comes here !!

[ronaldo0]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

If there is no official response maybe the guys from Trash Hero Koh Samui are reading this.

 

The Trash Hero movement does great work all across Thailand, they've certainly really helped to improve the cleanliness of beaches in Hua Hin and surrounding area. 

They are here already plus other groups cleaning up crap from the beaches. This is waste from a property that is just getting dumped rather than disposed off properly.

I read about water tests done here several years ago and it was polluted then so god knows how bad it is now !

[MichaelJohn]

It''s not surprising; look anywhere in Thailand and you'll see rubbish.

 

[evadgib]

I stopped swimming there after too many were stung by box jellyfish in a relatively short period. I wore bootees due to the high number of broken bottles underfoot in the water @ soi 4 beach & later accessed the beach via Bado's soi/ Maenam resort a few hundred meters west. Maenam beach is generally excellent providing you walk 200+m from your point of entry/car park before settling your towels.

 

For the doom and gloom merchants knocking the island from afar I still would not swap, no matter where you are ?

[chuang]

Don't worry some good farangs will clean it up.......

[Samui Bodoh]

That is an ugly picture and should be cleaned up, but it is also VERY deceptive. It is a 20 meter stretch of a 3 kilometer (?) beach that is stunning. 

I swim on a daily basis a few hundred meters east of there, and the beach is clean, the sand wonderful, and the water is clean and lovely. It is one of the main reasons that I live here. A sense of perspective is badly needed to this story.

Off to the beach!

Cheers

[impulse]

20+ years ago when I lived in Southern California, I could open up the morning news and look at the bacteria count all up and down the coast and decide whether and where to go swimming.  

 

Is there any credible analog here in Thailand?

[Deez]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

well clean it up instead of complaining ....  

They would rather wait for a foreigner to clean it up.

[FredNL]

What do you expect on Koh Rupt Trash ???

Same, same as Pattaya and Puke-it.

Where trash is meeting trash, making trash and living with and in trash !!!

[ChakaKhan]

1 hour ago, Deez said:

They would rather wait for a foreigner to clean it up.

Too busy complaining about falang and playing facebook...thainess 101

[bangkokairportlink]

And what happened to the ferry last time ? is it a new trash ?

[dcsw53]

I thought "unhelpful" posts were to be banned. How is this helpful in getting more tourists to Samui, they should be concentrating on accentuating the positives. Such as...or.... OK I give in !!

[evadgib]

2 hours ago, FredNL said:

What do you expect on Koh Rupt Trash ???

Same, same as Pattaya and Puke-it.

Where trash is meeting trash, making trash and living with and in trash !!!

Posting from Bkk about a tiny stretch of water on an otherwise pristine beach? 

 

You forgot to shut the door...

 

 

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Posting from Bkk about a tiny stretch of water on an otherwise pristine beach? 

 

You forgot to shut the door...

 

One could make the same characterization about that little stretch of beach at Fukushima.

[Steiner]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

That is an ugly picture and should be cleaned up, but it is also VERY deceptive. It is a 20 meter stretch of a 3 kilometer (?) beach that is stunning. 

I swim on a daily basis a few hundred meters east of there, and the beach is clean, the sand wonderful, and the water is clean and lovely. It is one of the main reasons that I live here. A sense of perspective is badly needed to this story.

Off to the beach!

Cheers

So you swim a few hundred meters from where that septic tank overfill flows into the ocean? 

Nice, swimming in  sh1t, maybe it's good for the skin... ? ? ? 

[evadgib]

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

One could make the same characterization about that little stretch of beach at Fukushima.

One would need to be living in Hiroshima or Chenobyl to beat a bkk based hypocrite with all those klongs.

 

 

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, evadgib said:

I'd have to be living in Hiroshima or Chenobyl to match matey in bkk with all those klongs.

 

True, but I don't know many tourists who save up all year and fly 15 hours each way to swim in the klongs.

[Mr Beaver]

Oh my!  Hope no Brits posting here complaining about the litter and other rubbish.

Seen on Sky news several times in the last few months how much effort is being put in to cleaning rubbish in  coastal areas of UK,  and only 60 % of counties recycle there recyclables .. what happens in the other 40 %?

Not to mention many councils have to have litter control officers to catch people dumping or throwing rubbish ...what is it a 100 pound fine?

 

And all coastal communities have sewage that does not flow into the sea?  I don't think so.

Fortunately the positives way out weigh the negatives in living here.

 

Just to add, this is a world wide problem, even so called pristine Hawaii ... I've seen litter and even old televisions dumped near beaches and else where.

[RichardColeman]

I'm sure if the beach chair vendors were offered a free months 'bribe' 'rent' then it would be cleaned up in a matter of hours.