Mystery Contamination Kills Fish By Thousands In Chao Phraya

[george]

Mystery contamination kills fish by thousands in Chao Phraya

BANGKOK: -- Hundreds of thousands of freshwater fish in commercial fishfarms along the Chao Phraya River in central Thailand died overnight Sunday.

Fish farmers upriver in Ang Thong and Ayutthaya provinces were shocked to find large numbers of fish in their bamboo fish-farming cages along the Chao Phraya had died in massive numbers for unknown reasons.

Some farmers believe that the large scale deaths resulted from water pollution caused by factories, while others are pointing to a sugar barge which sank upstream on March 3. Authorities are now investigating the actual cause of the fish losses.

Four industrial factories located upstream along the river are suspected by some to have released some contaminated water into the river, causing water pollution that may have killed the fish.

Nevertheless, some farmers were convinced that their fish were killed by contamination from a barge carrying 6,000 sacks of sugar that sank over a week ago.

Pollution Control Department director-general Suphat Wangwongwattana pledged that the results of the investigation will be announced as soon as the actual cause is confirmed.

Supporting Mr. Suphat's statement, Marine Department director-general Prasong Tanmaneewattana said a team of experts had been assigned to collect Chao Phraya water sample for laboratory tests. Once the result comes out, those responsible will be subject to prosecution.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWWA) deputy governor Wutichai Rangsiyawath said that should the deaths be due to sugar contamination, water-borne bacteria will accelerate the sugar's dissolution.

MWWA workers are on alert, preparing for the arrival of contaminated water in Bangkok.

If necessary, Mr. Suphat said, he will order the closure of the water gate in Pathum Thani province adjacent to Bangkok until the contaminated water flows past it.

Water supply in metropolitan Bangkok relies on water from the Chao Phraya River.

--TNA 2007-03-12

[Tony Clifton]

And then onto the Gulf.

What are they going to do with all that dead fish?

I don`t eat fish. Here`s a funny thing I once saw in a Chinese shop. Live fish for sale, fish starts to bob, fish dies. I point to the dead fish to a shop employee, reaches in, sticks dead fish on ice in the FRESH FISH display.

[cdnvic]

There's too many polluted areas along the rivers in Thailand. I'll eat saltwater fish, but someone else can have the freshwater mercury sponges.

[Martin]

Off topic, I know, but I have often wondered how do they get fish to stay alive and fresh but be (apparently) brain dead?

On topic. After looking at the water flowing through Bangkok, it is a tribute to your confidence in the efficiency of Thai water treatment that all you Bangkokians will drink it, or even wash in it!

But we do have confidence in the water treaters, don't we? (I remember from boyhood a saying that: "What London drinks today, Didcot drank yesterday"!)

[andook]

What are they going to do with all that dead fish?

Well, if they died due to all that sugar in the water, they just need to sink a similar-size barge of chilies; and they'd be perfect for local consumption.

[lingling]

Sugar? Bull. It is pesticide season on the rice fields and all it takes is that someone spills half a barrel of that into the water or clean a couple of old barrels in the river.

[Aujuba]

Wouldn't sugar have an effect on bacteria? Oxygen levels?

Just throwing up ideas. No one is going to admit that that dumped pesticides in the river but that is very possible too.

They mention the fish farms but what about the wild fish and other creatures in the river.

[lingling]

Wouldn't sugar have an effect on bacteria? Oxygen levels?

Just throwing up ideas. No one is going to admit that that dumped pesticides in the river but that is very possible too.

They mention the fish farms but what about the wild fish and other creatures in the river.

The article mentions 6000 sacks of sugar. That is nothing in a river where the water flow is 3000-5000m³ per second. The strong pesticides that _every_ farmer upstream uses too much of is a more likely culprit than sugar or industrial pollution. In my experience the farmers are the ones who understand/care least about how they pollute as long as they can increase their gains a tiny little bit. Education, education, education and some strict (and enforced) regulations for pesticides is needed.

[leisurely]

That explains the stickiness I felt after my swim.

Seriously, the river always looks grubby with assorted flotsam and jestam and some dead dogs. I have seen fishermen at Saphan Taxin pulling fish out for tea and seeming quite jubilant with their catch.

[Richb2004v2]

Education, education, education and some strict (and enforced) regulations

I think that is basically what is missing in most things here.

[Canadianvisitor]

I guess the Chemical salesman are real happy to eat pork.

[Johpa]

I guess the Chemical salesman are real happy to eat pork.

What they feed the pigs is worse than what they sell in the market to people.

[lingling]

I have seen fishermen at Saphan Taxin pulling fish out for tea and seeming quite jubilant with their catch.

Once, a bunch of years ago, I saw a fisherwoman pull out a goldfish.

Now, back to the topic. I was recently out shopping for barrels. I went to many of the roadside shops and explained that I needed clean barrels as I was going to use them as floats for a raft. Most barrels I came across had their labels pulled off either partially or completely. Most of the ones with partial labels left showed clearly that they were unsuitable to be used for that purpose. Still I was told in several shops that "it is ok, we have customers who use these barrels for fish fry".

Eventually I came across a few barrels here and there that had been used for harmless stuff and where I could confirm that the residue inside matched the label.

One shop, situated very close to a river were even in the process of washing some barrels labelled with "marine pollutant" and a crossed over fish. It was not next to Jao Praya though, but it gives a hint that people here don't really give a shit if they pollute.

Not to mention everyone who can not understand my no-pesticides policy for our fruit trees - they all try to explain how much more and how beautiful fruit we will get if we soak the garden in insecticides.

[andook]

The pollution here is exactly the same as throwing litter. A lot of local people have no conception of the effects of their actions beyond their tiny little boundaries / environment. They don't give a <deleted>, as long as its not in their yard.

[Richb2004v2]

One of my naive perceptions of Thailand that benefited my moving here was the notion that I would be eating a much better and safer diet. I saw the food as natural and good, all harvested by the hands of smiling Thais. It didn’t take that long before I became concerned about the opposite being true.

The regulations regarding things I see all around me are very flexible or non existent, therefore I have wondered if the same is probably true for farming practices.

This story just confirms my concerns.

At the end of the day if there is a wrong or dangerous way to do a task the Thai’s will find that way.

[lingling]

The regulations regarding things I see all around me are very flexible or non existent, therefore I have wondered if the same is probably true for farming practices.

In some areas [of farming] it definitely is. The amount of pesticides used for some types of fruit is staggering. Chumpoo is probably the worst - I no longer eat that. Bananas is probably the safest bet if you want pesticide free fruits.

On the other end of the spectrum there is of course the opposite - a lot of cows, pigs and chickens are raised on small scale farms in a completely natural environment with just natural clean food and no or little antibiotics and growth hormones. (That's not the meat you'll find in the BKK supermarkets though - if it comes from CP or similar then you can be sure that they are using all the same "tools" to increase gains as US farmers do)