1 hour ago, treetops said:

 

Khao Lampi–Hat Thai Mueang National Park I expect.

I could be wrong, but afaik that's not a marine national park. That would mean fishing is allowed.

Do other countries with protected reefs within their territorial waters have the same rules? Australia for example do they have similar?

So "tourists face 100,000 baht fine", not everybody and anybody, including Thais, this is just for tourists. 

B100,000 fine?

 

Tourist: " thanks but no thanks - we'll go somewhere else"!

10 hours ago, grain said:

So "tourists face 100,000 baht fine", not everybody and anybody, including Thais, this is just for tourists. 

You realise thais are tourists?

On 10/18/2025 at 6:17 PM, Zaphod Priest said:

How does the threat to reefs of a smear of sunscreen compare with the threat of global warming? And what significant is Thailand doing about the latter?

Fining tourists .... 

I notice it’s addressed to tourists only. How about people?  Thais use all sorts of creams on their bodies including the number one cream. Bleaching or whitener. That’s pretty poisonous and damaging. It goes down the shower trap daily. Maybe cross contamination. Tourists are already swerving Thailand for Bietnam and the Philipines. Long term expats are leaving at an alarming rate. Is Thailand deliberately ignoring these facts?

Would think boats would be doing far more damage than sunscreen.

Climate change, boat traffic and garbage thrown into the waters near them are what's destroying coral worldwide. Higher water temps are bleaching the coral and boats in shallow waters tear up the coral so if they wanted to actually protect these areas, the least they can do is keep people away from them as much as possible. Sunscreens might affect the coral but trying to monitor this isn't going to be easy. 

Stupidity and ignorance wins! And this has been the case for decades!

18 minutes ago, TruthinThailand said:

I notice it’s addressed to tourists only. How about people?  Thais use all sorts of creams on their bodies including the number one cream. Bleaching or whitener. That’s pretty poisonous and damaging. It goes down the shower trap daily. Maybe cross contamination. Tourists are already swerving Thailand for Bietnam and the Philipines. Long term expats are leaving at an alarming rate. Is Thailand deliberately ignoring these facts?

Where did you read 'foreign tourists '?

Are long term expats leaving at an alarming rate?

18 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

It's much worse, most people now realise that "global warming" is not a threat at all neither is it something that humans can do much about.

What sources are you using?  I'm not sure many leading authorities would support that very controvercial statement.

On 10/18/2025 at 9:17 PM, Zaphod Priest said:

How does the threat to reefs of a smear of sunscreen compare with the threat of global warming? And what significant is Thailand doing about the latter?

Tne difference is Father priest  , that humans can ban these sunscreens to protect the reef but countries and thehumans  that live within them cannot change the temperature and stop global warming. The only one who can do that is your boss...... and good luck there.

12 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

Do other countries with protected reefs within their territorial waters have the same rules? Australia for example do they have similar?

NO, they have a lot of other regulations like dedicated anchorage points and restricted and seasonal fishing zones and no dumping rubbish but not sunscreen bans.

How will tourists, and I assume international and local, be informed which brands are banned, will there be signs, in all languages, in Big C, Lotus, Tops, Pharmacies etc...we know tour operators won't mention it, and certainly not before the tourists pay for the tour with no refunds.

 

100,000 thb for sunscreen vs 5000 thb for running you off the road and causing grievous harm, or beating you up.

Is this something that they suddenly COPIED from maybe Australia? It must make them feel important and "on the ball" - sadly, they never seem to manage to have their own ideas.

What brands ate involved? Ban the sake of these fist priority. 

The list approved products.

Education is always best.

Normal person doesn't read chemical ingredients. Or would not know.

On 10/18/2025 at 4:03 PM, WHansen said:

Looking for easy targets yet again. 

Anything that requires hard work and organisation gets ignored or swept under the carpet.

The regular oil spills from pipelines in the bay of Thailand being just one.

Nonsense. This is a good move.

14 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Nonsense. This is a good move.

Indeed other countries have banned sunscreen when diving at coral sites. Including the U.S. (Hawaii and U.S. Virgin Islands) and Mexico. 

 

 

AI from google..

 

Several places, including Hawaii, Palau, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and parts of Mexico and Thailand, have banned sunscreens containing harmful chemicals like oxybenzone and octinoxate to protect coral reefs. These bans are in response to scientific findings that certain chemicals can lead to coral bleaching, damage larvae, and interfere with reproduction, with bans aiming to reduce the impact of tourism and protect marine ecosystems. 

 

Locations with bans

• Hawaii: The first U.S. state to ban sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. 
   
• Palau: Was the first country to implement a ban on a wider range of "reef-toxic" sunscreens. 
   
• U.S. Virgin Islands: Has banned sunscreens with oxybenzone. 
   
• Bonaire: A municipality of the Netherlands, has enacted similar legislation. 
   
• Mexico: Has banned certain sunscreens in its nature reserves. 
   
• Thailand: Banned sunscreens with oxybenzone, octinoxate, and other damaging chemicals from its marine parks. 
   

Harmful chemicals and effects

• Commonly banned ingredients: 

  Oxybenzone, octinoxate, butylparaben, and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor are frequently cited in bans. 

   
• Observed effects on coral: 

  These chemicals have been shown to damage and deform coral larvae, impede reproduction, cause coral bleaching, and accumulate in coral tissues. 

   

How to protect yourself and the reefs

• Choose sunscreens that are free from the chemicals listed above, often labeled as "reef-safe". 
   
• Wear UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) sun-protective clothing, such as rash guards and hats. 
   
• Seek shade during peak sun hours, typically between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

all sunscreen / sunblock should be banned ..  we did not develope and grow in caves,,    we are not deep sea fish 

 we grew and evolved on the surface of the earth ..in the sun

we are seeing evidence that it is not only safe to be out in the sun under most circumstances, is actually beneficial. UVA light can stimulate NO, as well as stimulating neuronal development and increased connections by getting into the retina of the eye. UVB stimulates vitamin D, which actually sits on the surface of your skin in order to act as a natural UV sunblock. . Even when you are in the northern or southern latitudes, and getting on the Sun is even more important, because you have less of it available to you. Just focus on not burning, and not using sunscreen, just beef and lamb tallow. . It also stimulates your brain to grow new connections and neuronal complexity, and so much more, so this is an extremely important part of anybody's health journey.

The ban has been in place since August 2021. Seems this is just a reminder that the ban exists.

This is a severe overreaction! There are studies that in dense concentrations some of the chemicals in sunscreen can harm corals. But they did not do the work to determine the real world impact.

 

https://phys.org/news/2019-02-insufficient-evidence-sunscreen-coral-reefs.html

 

With any chemical, it’s the dosage that matters!

 

It also ignores the much larger impact of other factors! I have come up from many dives with the bad taste of diesel fuel in my mouth. The oil from the dive boats is a very clear problem that is order of magnitudes greater!

 

This is like shops banning plastic straws, while still selling large quantities of plastic water bottles! It makes people feel better that they are doing something, but it’s a trivial thing. It would be better to first eliminate the bigger problems that will have an impact!

 

Other logical problems with the sunscreen arguments.
 

Lotion is usually an “oily” product that contains the chemicals. Thus it floats! Unless you are diving *under* coral, it’s not going to touch the coral.

 

For “reef safe” sunscreen, there have not been studies to determine if all of the chemicals in it, are actually harmless. At best they can only claim that they don’t contain the known chemicals.

 

There's zero chance that they'll ever fine anyone 100k. Just like the announcement a few years ago that people watching planes land at Phuket airport could face the death penalty, this is just a chance for some mid-level official to have a media moment. By all means educate folks about which sun creams to avoid, but there's no need for nonsensical threats.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-09/tourists-could-face-death-penalty-for-selfies-as-planes-land/10983604

Business for small empty plastic bottles with proper printings (wrong words left off) would be booming as tourists would put their expensive sunscreen into such to avoid concerns of being slammed with the 100k fine. A lot of those bottles thrown to the seas.

 

Or big business for expensive chemical analysis devices for officials, with big opportunity for brown envelopes?

19 hours ago, treetops said:

 

Over 1,000 of them in Lazmall alone.

 

And you believe all that is advertised on lazmall?

53 minutes ago, Luuk Chaai said:

all sunscreen / sunblock should be banned ..  we did not develope and grow in caves,,    we are not deep sea fish 

 we grew and evolved on the surface of the earth ..in the sun

we are seeing evidence that it is not only safe to be out in the sun under most circumstances, is actually beneficial. UVA light can stimulate NO, as well as stimulating neuronal development and increased connections by getting into the retina of the eye. UVB stimulates vitamin D, which actually sits on the surface of your skin in order to act as a natural UV sunblock. . Even when you are in the northern or southern latitudes, and getting on the Sun is even more important, because you have less of it available to you. Just focus on not burning, and not using sunscreen, just beef and lamb tallow. . It also stimulates your brain to grow new connections and neuronal complexity, and so much more, so this is an extremely important part of anybody's health journey.

And being in the sun can lead to skin cancer, as proved many times.

15 hours ago, stevenl said:

I could be wrong, but afaik that's not a marine national park. That would mean fishing is allowed.

 

No idea, just pointing out the poster was probably not referring to the one in Myanmar.

 

On further looking, their Facebook page does contain marine references (eg National Dugong Conservation Day on August 17th) so it appears they have some remit/oversight over the adjoining sea.

25 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

And you believe all that is advertised on lazmall?

 

Jeez, does it matter?

 

Even if 90% are wrong (probably less) it leaves over 100 accurate descriptions which still well negates the statement "there are no reef safe sunscreens available to buy in Thailand" which I was replying to.

2 hours ago, Luuk Chaai said:

all sunscreen / sunblock should be banned ..  we did not develope and grow in caves,,    we are not deep sea fish 

 we grew and evolved on the surface of the earth ..in the sun

we are seeing evidence that it is not only safe to be out in the sun under most circumstances, is actually beneficial. UVA light can stimulate NO, as well as stimulating neuronal development and increased connections by getting into the retina of the eye. UVB stimulates vitamin D, which actually sits on the surface of your skin in order to act as a natural UV sunblock. . Even when you are in the northern or southern latitudes, and getting on the Sun is even more important, because you have less of it available to you. Just focus on not burning, and not using sunscreen, just beef and lamb tallow. . It also stimulates your brain to grow new connections and neuronal complexity, and so much more, so this is an extremely important part of anybody's health journey.

Maybe correct if you live in Scotland but if I am spending the day out around water in Thailand proper SPF 50 sunscreen is essential. skin cancer is not much fun.