" Floating Gold" Washing Up On Phuket Beach

[george]

‘Floating gold’ washing up on Phuket beach

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat shows some older samples of ambergris

she has collected on Phuket's Mai Khao Beach over the years.

Some of the fresh ambergris collected by Phuket villagers recently.

MAI KHAO, PHUKET: -- The most expensive excrement in the world has been washing up on a Phuket beach since last weekend: ambergris, or ‘floating gold’, as it is known.

Villagers living near Mai Khao Beach have been scrambling to collect the substance, which begins life as bile excreted by sperm whales and is extremely valuable.

Several hundred kilograms of it have already washed up and been gathered by local people hoping to make a fortune by selling it.

Suphot Jantarapornsin, a fisheries specialist at Phuket Marine Biological Center, confirmed that the substance was ambergris.

He said the quantity of ambergris washing up on the beach meant more than one sperm whale must be in the area.

“The lumps are fresh and quite large so we can guess they are swimming close to the island,” he said.

Ambergris has also been washing up on beaches in neighboring Phang Nga province recently, where there have been reports of lucky villagers selling it for 70,000 baht per kilogram.

After sperm whales vomit up ambergris, it solidifies and floats in the sea, occasionally washing up on beaches.

It has a sweet, alluring smell, which makes it useful in making perfume.

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

“I feel like I’ve won the lottery,” she said. “I want to use the money to fix my roof and take my sick father to see a doctor.”

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-10-02

[sunsamourai]

'Floating gold' washing up on Phuket beach

selling it for 70,000 baht per kilogram.

she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

= 2 MILLION BAHTS !!!!

Nice day at the beach ! What the hel_l am I doing in an office in Bkk !?!

[simon43]

It has a sweet, alluring smell, which makes it useful in making perfume...

[\quote]

Hmm, spraying whale vomit over yourself because it is claimed to have an alluring smell??

I smell something fishy here!

Simon

[bunnaag]

Why is it so expensive?What is it used for?Now I know Simon.

Edited October 2, 2009 by bunnaag

[basjke]

If you do a google for this stuff you can find out that it actually has a value of 340.000 baht a kilogram instead of 70.000 baht.

If you read a bit further you can....

H_ell what am I wasting my time on this forum,when is the first flight to Phuket.

[ukrules]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

[basjke]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

Are you serious?Then how you call the practices of let's say bill gates,warren buffet,donals trump and others.

[Hockeybik]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

Are you serious?Then how you call the practices of let's say bill gates,warren buffet,donals trump and others.

How many jobs has the "shameless greed" of Gates, Buffet and Trump provided? And how many millionaires has their "greed" produced? Just thinkin' out loud here...

[MaiDong]

If you do a google for this stuff you can find out that it actually has a value of 340.000 baht a kilogram instead of 70.000 baht.

If you read a bit further you can....

H_ell what am I wasting my time on this forum,when is the first flight to Phuket.

The price per gram a few years ago would've netted lucky old Rattanaphat nearly B10,000,000, I reckon she'll fix her roof and sort her dad out with what she's got in her stash, I hope she hides it away well now that her face has been spread around the news

[beejoir]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

errrr I'd be the same and I very much doubt you or anyone else here would be much different.

''Hey there is 70,000 baht whale puke washing up on the beach, its free help yourself..... ''

''Sorry, I'd rather rub a fat sweaty western guy with oil for sweet F all an hour.''

Don't be such a Thai bashing prick all of your life, its what ruins this website and makes it a stuffy stagnant pit of moaning expats.

[MaiDong]

Don't be such a Thai bashing prick all of your life, its what ruins this website and makes it a stuffy stagnant pit of moaning expats.

[sunsamourai]

Don't be such a Thai bashing prick all of your life, its what ruins this website and makes it a stuffy stagnant pit of moaning expats.

good one !

edit reason : add the edit note

Edited October 2, 2009 by sunsamourai

[surangw]

Now that she is made famous ( and has something said to be worth big money) how long before she comes up missing

[LP-BKK]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

errrr I'd be the same and I very much doubt you or anyone else here would be much different.

''Hey there is 70,000 baht whale puke washing up on the beach, its free help yourself..... ''

''Sorry, I'd rather rub a fat sweaty western guy with oil for sweet F all an hour.''

Don't be such a Thai bashing prick all of your life, its what ruins this website and makes it a stuffy stagnant pit of moaning expats.

[crazyswede]

Yummi ...

[Thailand]

Coming soon to a movie theater near you:

Whale Puke -the movie!

[animatic]

Well the stuff does smell good, and has been part of the perfuming industry for many, many centuries.

Obviously it is quite refined by the time you actual spray infinitesimal parts from your atomizer.

The price discrepancy reflects raw vs refined ambergris prices.

I have smelled 100 year old ambergris at the whaling museum my sister works at;

pungent and potent even 100 years later.

If you go back in the day when bathing was not S.O.P. for most humans,

perfumes needed to be very potent, tohide the stench of humanity, and

ambergris was always prized.

And I agree;

good luck to her now being a 'known rich person' in a low economy...

watch your back miss.

[bangon04]

Can someone please post the Thai for Ambergris - can't find it in the dictionary.....

[whatchamacallit]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

indeed... just imagine all these years you've been working for peanuts... and gave ALL your monies away to charities... and these lazy people just have gold delivered to their front porch. Life is so unfair and full of greedy people....

[zzdocxx]

I wonder what about the sperm whale vomit makes it smell so good? Or why, to put it another way.

Any marine biologists out there?

? ? ?

[beejoir]

Can someone please post the Thai for Ambergris - can't find it in the dictionary.....

ขี้ปลาวาฬใช้ทำน้ำหอม

[walterego]

Thailand to become new Ambergris hub.

[TerraPosse]

I'm going later to vomit into the Khlong Saen Saeb if somebody wishes to collect...

[TAWP]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat, who works as a beach masseuse, said she had collected 30 kilograms of ambergris and was still trying to find more.

Now there's an example of shameless greed if ever I saw one.

What kind of socialist does it take to condemn those that are rewarded for working more?

[Johpa]

How many jobs has the "shameless greed" of Gates, Buffet and Trump provided? And how many millionaires has their "greed" produced? Just thinkin' out loud here...

How many lives have been lost? How many families have been crushed? How many wars have been fought? Why is the battle against the destructive results of greed often the original centerpiece of the major religions before they are co-opted by the ruling class? Oops, excuse me, just thinking out loud here......

[on-on]

Thailand to become new Ambergris hub.

Haha. Cue perspective picture of official bending down and pointing at pile of ambergris in new ISO-11,000,000,000 processing plant.

Edited October 3, 2009 by on-on

[dr_Pat_Pong]

If you do a google for this stuff you can find out that it actually has a value of 340.000 baht a kilogram instead of 70.000 baht.

If you read a bit further you can....

H_ell what am I wasting my time on this forum,when is the first flight to Phuket.

The price per gram a few years ago would've netted lucky old Rattanaphat nearly B10,000,000, I reckon she'll fix her roof and sort her dad out with what she's got in her stash, I hope she hides it away well now that her face has been spread around the news

With that amount she could do a bit for the buffalo as well.

[zzdocxx]

OK Wikipedia has an article that explains a lot about it, it is actually usually in the whale feces.

Still I wonder about the happy accident that makes it smell good.

[haybilly]

Rattanaporn Rattanaphat shows some older samples of ambergris

she has collected on Phuket's Mai Khao Beach over the years.

It doesn't seem, from photo, that it's all arrived recently--this enterprising local seems to have been collecting for a while---all the best and good luck with the personal security.

[Garry]

Ambergris has been found on the beaches in Oman. In the news many years was a ball (around the size of a soccer ball supposedly) of ambergris was found and then promptly sold to the Amouage Perfume company for something like OMR80,000 = USD$200,000+

Edited October 4, 2009 by Garry