Jomtien Beach photo yesterday, I don't know why people complain :)

[Anagami]

Not sure why people complain. Beautiful sand, and clear, pristine water. You might even find something to eat left behind by the dogs if you are hungry. :)

 

And by the way, if any travel agents would like to use my photo in their promotional campaign, you have my permission. 

[richard_smith237]

We popped down to Pattaya at the weekend, while there my son wanted to go to the Beach - I refused for this very reason that the beach and sea there is filthy. 

IMO: the beach there is actually dangerous, sharp objects, broken glass etc.

 

We will soon head else where to Koh Samet for 'beach time'... I wonder how many other people avoid these areas and travel a little further because the beaches are so dirty.

 

I imagine Places like Jomtiem and definitely Bang Saray incurr significant tourist losses as a direct result of its pollution. 

[champers]

1 hour ago, Anagami said:

Not sure why people complain. Beautiful sand, and clear, pristine water. You might even find something to eat left behind by the dogs if you are hungry. :)

 

And by the way, if any travel agents would like to use my photo in their promotional campaign, you have my permission. 

That isn't rubbish; it's nourishment.

[Anagami]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

We popped down to Pattaya at the weekend, while there my son wanted to go to the Beach - I refused for this very reason that the beach and sea there is filthy. 

IMO: the beach there is actually dangerous, sharp objects, broken glass etc.

 

We will soon head else where to Koh Samet for 'beach time'... I wonder how many other people avoid these areas and travel a little further because the beaches are so dirty.

 

I imagine Places like Jomtiem and definitely Bang Saray incurr significant tourist losses as a direct result of its pollution. 

 

You could go to Koh Larn, the ferry is cheap and takes less than an hour. The beach is reasonably clean, though they run their sewage into the water there as well of course (at the far end of the main beach, so if you go, stay at the near end). Clouds of Chinese around noon hour. Even a pretty sign: "Chinatown".

 

A seat at the beach will run you 100 baht each, if I recall correctly last time I went.

[jmccarty]

Another "hub" opportunity! 

[dotpoom]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

We popped down to Pattaya at the weekend, while there my son wanted to go to the Beach - I refused for this very reason that the beach and sea there is filthy. 

IMO: the beach there is actually dangerous, sharp objects, broken glass etc.

 

We will soon head else where to Koh Samet for 'beach time'... I wonder how many other people avoid these areas and travel a little further because the beaches are so dirty.

 

I imagine Places like Jomtiem and definitely Bang Saray incurr significant tourist losses as a direct result of its pollution. 

I live in Bang Saray.....there may not be many tourists here but it's not because of dirty beaches

    By the way, there is a hugh job going on there now landscaping all that area.

[craigt3365]

Wind direction has a lot to do with this.  A lot of the trash comes from boats.  And down the various rivers/creeks.  Disgusting.

[LALes]

Just the kind of beach those quality tourists want to see.

[Currumbin]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Wind direction has a lot to do with this.  A lot of the trash comes from boats.  And down the various rivers/creeks.  Disgusting.

Flotsam and Jetsam......plenty more of that in the bars.

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Wind direction has a lot to do with this.  A lot of the trash comes from boats.  And down the various rivers/creeks.  Disgusting.

I don't agree. If you really think most of this is from boats and wind then we should anxiously await a picture of this same beach on a day without wind. This is garbage from people just being gross all over the place. I'm in Crete now on the way to Thailand.  I spent the day on a large beach here yesterday and could not find anything but sand on the beach. I expected some trash  just because Crete is close to Africa and seems to be located where trash may show up. But none! 

When another poster ( above) takes his son to Ko Samet he should look back under the boat entry where you buy tickets. Look to the left and right. It looks like a normal cities dump. In less than 10 years Ko Samets water has gone from cleaner to very dirty. Also walk up the main road and look around where they make foreigners pay 5x the fee as Thais. There you will see many more mini dumps and what looks like a raw sewage creek where bungalows are located ( who in their right mind would stay in these) 

This "crap" is slowly but surely going to drive tourists away from Thailand. 

The wind is not the issue. No need for link. 

[mauGR1]

15 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

I don't agree. If you really think most of this is from boats and wind then we should anxiously await a picture of this same beach on a day without wind. This is garbage from people just being gross all over the place. I'm in Crete now on the way to Thailand.  I spent the day on a large beach here yesterday and could not find anything but sand on the beach. I expected some trash  just because Crete is close to Africa and seems to be located where trash may show up. But none! 

When another poster ( above) takes his son to Ko Samet he should look back under the boat entry where you buy tickets. Look to the left and right. It looks like a normal cities dump. In less than 10 years Ko Samets water has gone from cleaner to very dirty. Also walk up the main road and look around where they make foreigners pay 5x the fee as Thais. There you will see many more mini dumps and what looks like a raw sewage creek where bungalows are located ( who in their right mind would stay in these) 

This "crap" is slowly but surely going to drive tourists away from Thailand. 

The wind is not the issue. No need for link. 

That's probably right for some place, but, honestly, after many years, i have yet to see a foreign tourist drop garbage on a street or a beach.

that said, i live on a island, and i like to look for small, empty beaches or islands where very few people go... i can assure you, there is a "belt" of garbage all around, exactly where the high tide reaches.. It all comes from the boats.

[Emster23]

Yes, was awful yesterday and this morning, then beach cleaners showed up and hauled most of it away. I guess taking care of problem at source of dumping is too great a leap, however.

[BuaBS]

There are machines to clean the beaches : http://www.hbarber.com/Cleaners/Beach_Cleaning_Equipment.html

Why doesn't Pattaya use them ?

[Happy Grumpy]

5 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

There are machines to clean the beaches : http://www.hbarber.com/Cleaners/Beach_Cleaning_Equipment.html

Why doesn't Pattaya use them ?

The taxi guys will attack the drivers with bats. 

[holy cow cm]

4 hours ago, Anagami said:

 

You could go to Koh Larn, the ferry is cheap and takes less than an hour. The beach is reasonably clean, though they run their sewage into the water there as well of course (at the far end of the main beach, so if you go, stay at the near end). Clouds of Chinese around noon hour. Even a pretty sign: "Chinatown".

 

A seat at the beach will run you 100 baht each, if I recall correctly last time I went.

You get some sort of chemical/gas/oil; late in the day hitting the north side. dung hole.

[bkk6060]

Come on.... If there is a perfect clean pristine beach in a popular resort town, lets see it.

If it is such a good place now, it will be filthy soon.

At least like another poster said, they came and cleaned it up.

Try going to Sihaunokville Cambodia what a filthy hole of a place no organized clean up from what I saw disgusting. 

[petermik]

8 hours ago, BuaBS said:

There are machines to clean the beaches : http://www.hbarber.com/Cleaners/Beach_Cleaning_Equipment.html

Why doesn't Pattaya use them ?

Waiting for someone that is qualified to teach the operators

[stanleycoin]

3 minutes ago, petermik said:

Waiting for someone that is qualified to teach the operators

Be there in a jiffy.

 

[Anagami]

18 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Come on.... If there is a perfect clean pristine beach in a popular resort town, lets see it.

 

You are kidding, right?

 

Here's a photo from Bali, July this year. It was super hard finding any garbage... and Bali is still very popular.

 

And if you are interested in additional photos, I can send you some from Cancun, Mexico, where I lived for a long time. It wasn't 100%, but pretty close. And I am not talking only about hotel-zone beaches. It definitely was not a shit-stained sewer like beaches here. And yes, Cancun is also extremely popular.... way more than Pattaya.

 

 

[stanleycoin]

3 minutes ago, Anagami said:

 

You are kidding, right?

 

Here's a photo from Bali, July this year. It was super hard finding any garbage... and Bali is still very popular.

 

And if you are interested in additional photos, I can send you some from Cancun, Mexico, where I lived for a long time. It wasn't 100%, but pretty close. And I am not talking only about hotel-zone beaches. It definitely was not a shit-stained sewer like beaches here. And yes, Cancun is also extremely popular.... way more than Pattaya.

 

 

Bali could look like this tomorrow.

Hope not, but it don't sound good.

 

 

[impulse]

I can't wait until Google comes out with scratch and sniff technology for JPEGs. 

 

Last time I was at my favorite place in Jomtien, I tried to paddle my kayak up a river dumping into the GOT and couldn't get closer than  50-100 meters from the mouth of the river before the stench of raw sewage turned me back.  Upwind was fine, but the stench stayed pretty strong for 500 meters downwind of the outlet.  I was real careful to wash all exposed skin when I hopped out of the kayak into knee deep water. 

 

I didn't have the heart to tell all the Euro tourists that had spent their holiday time and holiday money to swim in that filth...

 

BTW, my obligatory shameless plug for my favorite Thai beach town of Songkhla- here's Samila Beach the day after a big storm (normally the water is a beautiful blue/green)

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2017 by impulse

[Anagami]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

I didn't have the heart to tell all the Euro tourists that had spent their holiday time and holiday money to swim in that filth...

How ironic that the Euro tourists come here for a holiday... they have the Canaries! Unless of course they come for other things, which I can understand. 

[impulse]

1 minute ago, Anagami said:

How ironic that the Euro tourists come here for a holiday... they have the Canaries! Unless of course they come for other things, which I can understand. 

 

Not these people.  It's a family oriented place and the mostly Eastern Euro tourists there are generally a delightful bunch.  I suspect it's the cost differential that draws them, but I also think it's a traditional getaway that could go by the wayside in the very near future. 

 

I know I haven't been back in over a year since that experience, and that used to be a regular weekend getaway from my job in BKK.

 

[craigt3365]

3 hours ago, alex8912 said:

I don't agree. If you really think most of this is from boats and wind then we should anxiously await a picture of this same beach on a day without wind. This is garbage from people just being gross all over the place. I'm in Crete now on the way to Thailand.  I spent the day on a large beach here yesterday and could not find anything but sand on the beach. I expected some trash  just because Crete is close to Africa and seems to be located where trash may show up. But none! 

When another poster ( above) takes his son to Ko Samet he should look back under the boat entry where you buy tickets. Look to the left and right. It looks like a normal cities dump. In less than 10 years Ko Samets water has gone from cleaner to very dirty. Also walk up the main road and look around where they make foreigners pay 5x the fee as Thais. There you will see many more mini dumps and what looks like a raw sewage creek where bungalows are located ( who in their right mind would stay in these) 

This "crap" is slowly but surely going to drive tourists away from Thailand. 

The wind is not the issue. No need for link. 

Wind direction is a huge cause.  Blowing on shore brings the trash to us, blowing off shore sends it over to Hua Hin. LOL  I live right near the beach.  Been here for years.  Wind direction is a huge part of the problem.

 

The #1 problem is people not throwing their trash away properly.  I've followed the big tour boats out near Koh Larn.  On the way back, I've seen them throw big bags of trash off the back.  I go out fairly often here. 

 

No link needed is right.

[craigt3365]

29 minutes ago, Anagami said:

 

You are kidding, right?

 

Here's a photo from Bali, July this year. It was super hard finding any garbage... and Bali is still very popular.

 

And if you are interested in additional photos, I can send you some from Cancun, Mexico, where I lived for a long time. It wasn't 100%, but pretty close. And I am not talking only about hotel-zone beaches. It definitely was not a shit-stained sewer like beaches here. And yes, Cancun is also extremely popular.... way more than Pattaya.

 

 

Pattaya is screwed because we're at the top of the bay.  Bali isn't nor is Cancun, Mexico.  You can't compare the two.

 

I was on a beach not far south of Mazatlan.  It was filled with trash because it was near the mouth of a river.  Where all the locals dumped their trash.

[Gracas]

It is almost time to rename Beach Road to Compost Road.

[newnative]

6 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I live in Bang Saray.....there may not be many tourists here but it's not because of dirty beaches

    By the way, there is a hugh job going on there now landscaping all that area.

True. I was at Bang Saray yesterday and the beach seemed very clean.

[janclaes47]

10 minutes ago, newnative said:

6 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I live in Bang Saray.....there may not be many tourists here but it's not because of dirty beaches

    By the way, there is a hugh job going on there now landscaping all that area.

True. I was at Bang Saray yesterday and the beach seemed very clean.

 

Just wait until the tourists arrive and see how everything turns into a dump, and that will not be the fault of the tourists, but because maintenance and up-keeping are unknown expressions to Thais

[theguyfromanotherforum]

8 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

I imagine Places like Jomtiem and definitely Bang Saray incurr significant tourist losses as a direct result of its pollution. 

 

Nah.... It's been proven time and time again that tourists in Thailand don't care about filthy beaches, murders, robberies, etc.... as long as they can get value for money and decent infrastructure (shopping malls).

 

I am also one of the few grumpy expats who doesn't believe that TAT fudges its numbers. I believe they are 100% accurate. Tourists keep coming to Thailand simply because it is the best value and big cities have McDonalds, KFC and shopping malls. It's sadly as simple as that. If you check tourist numbers by year you will see the significant increase about the same time Paragon Mall opened.

 

In every country people will say government fudges the numbers. In Canada they always complain how Toronto Real Estate Board is corrupt to the bone, yet the prices of houses keep going up year after year.

[DukSiam1]

In the picture, the garbage on the beach can be cleaned up if they want to but I'm looking at the yellow bouys that are encrusted with black, sticky crud. That stuff is in the water. Horible!

Edited September 26, 2017 by DukSiam1