The Blame Game

[crusty]

The seas off Chaweng today are almost unswimmable and the filthiest I have ever seen, with clods of seaweed, debris and logs and bamboo washed up on the beach with their barnacles and mussels giving a ripe old stench in the sun. Not disparaging the Thais, but they do have a charming habit of casting the blame on others, as when in the cold North East monsoon, Thais are stricken by bird flu and head colds, it is due to "the bacteria from China" and from May onwards, when they come down with hot fevers and headaches, it is " because the S.W. monsoon is carrying pestilence from India and Bangla Desh". So it was no surprise today, when my Thai staff opined that the filth in the sea "came from Cambodia" ! You gotta love 'em ! Edited February 1, 2011 by crusty

[sevenhills]

Love it Crusty. but so true. It's a bit like how the rubbish from England finds it's way across to Australia.

[sbk]

Bit early for rubbish season, perhaps Chaweng gets hit earlier, but I've found, after years of picking up my beach, that the majority of the rubbish either comes from fishing trawlers (giant lightbulbs, nets etc) or the mainland somewhere (it was the piles of rubber flip flop forms that gave that one away, no flip flop factories on Koh Phangan and I doubt there are any on Samui either).

[joe84330]

once or twice a year i have to carry a large plastic waste bin down to my beach for a cleanup, thankfully most other times of the year i'm only carrying a small plastic bag.

pretty easy to tell where it comes from here, plastic bags, snack food foil wrappers, glass and plastic bottles etc. fishing boats and ferries. on the plus side, i don't have anyone nearby to tell me who is to blame for all the trash.

[screamingeagle]

I blame Merchant WBankers. They're responsible for all our current woes!

[BottleBlonde]

Whats more annoying is the attitude of "why bother to clear it up, if we wait long enough the sea will take it away again". Oh great, so it can wash up somewhere else later on.

[joe84330]

Whats more annoying is the attitude of "why bother to clear it up, if we wait long enough the sea will take it away again". Oh great, so it can wash up somewhere else later on.

this is why i always carry a plastic trash bag when i hike, play golf, go to my beach etc.

may not make a difference to someone in tahiti or tanzania but i hope it carries over to my kids, and their kids and on down the line.

[crusty]

Whats more annoying is the attitude of "why bother to clear it up, if we wait long enough the sea will take it away again". Oh great, so it can wash up somewhere else later on.

this is why i always carry a plastic trash bag when i hike, play golf, go to my beach etc.

may not make a difference to someone in tahiti or tanzania but i hope it carries over to my kids, and their kids and on down the line.

Joe you are too good to be true !

[crusty]

Love it Crusty. but so true. It's a bit like how the rubbish from England finds it's way across to Australia.

And that rubbish was good enough to save your ass in two world wars , nevermind finding their way to the top in rugby, cricket, Formula1, swimming, surfing, hockey,sailing, opera, acting.........(sigh)

Edited February 2, 2011 by crusty

[BangrakBob]

Love it Crusty. but so true. It's a bit like how the rubbish from England finds it's way across to Australia.

And that rubbish was good enough to save your ass in two world wars , nevermind finding their way to the top in rugby, cricket, Formula1, swimming, surfing, hockey,sailing, opera, acting.........(sigh)

Crusty, I think you got sevenhills rubbish mixed up?

[sevenhills]

Love it Crusty. but so true. It's a bit like how the rubbish from England finds it's way across to Australia.

And that rubbish was good enough to save your ass in two world wars , nevermind finding their way to the top in rugby, cricket, Formula1, swimming, surfing, hockey,sailing, opera, acting.........(sigh)

Now now, don't be a sore loser because we were lucky enough to keep Australia. All the rest doesn't really matter.

[H2oDunc]

I stayed the night in my hammock on Koh Rapp a few months ago. One of the small islands you can see from Thong Krut. We stayed on the Eastern side of it. In the morning a friend and I had a short trek through the island to the other side. I could not believe the amount of flotsam that was there. Old fishing nets, polystyrene bits, flip flops, lighters practically most things that float. There must have been about 3 meters of it all along the Western side. It would have taken months to clear up. My friend was thinking of putting a small resort there but after looking at the island as a whole he decided against it. A beautiful island ruined!

[crusty]

I stayed the night in my hammock on Koh Rapp a few months ago. One of the small islands you can see from Thong Krut. We stayed on the Eastern side of it. In the morning a friend and I had a short trek through the island to the other side. I could not believe the amount of flotsam that was there. Old fishing nets, polystyrene bits, flip flops, lighters practically most things that float. There must have been about 3 meters of it all along the Western side. It would have taken months to clear up. My friend was thinking of putting a small resort there but after looking at the island as a whole he decided against it. A beautiful island ruined!

Ahem ! I think you mean Koh Mud Sum not Thong Krut, although I can understand if you were looking at it from underwater.

[H2oDunc]

No Mud sum is opposite koh Tan. Koh Rapp, not sure of the spelling is West of koh Tan basically opposite Khanom on the mainland. Also Mudum is uninhabited but Koh Rapp has a few residents that live there.

I also haven't thought of trying out my hammock underwater

Will have to give it a try, though I won't need the mosquito net for it there but it might come in handy for the cleaner wrasse