Pattaya Beach Water Quality

[ChaiLor]

I'm surprised nobody quoted the usual story about swimming at Pattaya Beach, don't know if it's one of them urban myths but here goes:

There was a Hotel on beach road (forgot what one) who's sewage system drained straight into Pattaya bay, I think there was a bit of an uproar about it as it was not the standard system that was supposed to be used for waste water removal, all the locals knew that because of this the beach was definitely not for swimming.

Years ago the Thai beach vendors would laugh at the crazy Farang who used to fly half way around the world to swim in each others piss and shit, then lay cooking themselves in the sun while paying 5 times more for everything! Farang baa!

Don't know if it's like this know, would hope not, but you know TIT,

[londoedan]

Get in there - nothing to worry about - just don't swallow too much if you can help it.

I go to the beach about 4-5 times per week when in Pattaya, and swim maybe 2-3 times per visit. Never experienced any rashes, ear infections, stomach upsets etc..

I tend to agree with wpcoe's point: living in a bubble will not do your immune system much good in the long run.

Simon

[tropo]

I tend to agree with wpcoe's point: living in a bubble will not do your immune system much good in the long run.

Simon

Yeah, don't live in a bubble, but swimming in raw sewage is a bit extreme don't you think?

[londoedan]

Yeah, don't live in a bubble, but swimming in raw sewage is a bit extreme don't you think?

Couple of points:

The discharges, run-off etc from the city and hotels are diluted in an almost infinitely large amount of sea-water.

Pattaya has many attractions; for myself the main one is that is the coastal location. If I wasn't swimming in the sea several times each week I would probably move elsewhere.

[canuckamuck]

Thanks Paul, it has been many years since I have seen the Pattaya beach. It is comforting to know that everything is how I left it. Sewer on land and sea.

I find it astonishing that the one thing people always mention about beaches they visit is how clean they were/weren't. But the government, TAT, appears to have no interest in hiring full time workers to keep the beaches cleaned up. How hard or expensive could it be to hire workers and give them their own section of beach, maybe a kilometer or so, to continually patrol and clean. I know the garbage keeps coming in, but currently it is allowed to stay.

[lovetotravel]

Get in there - nothing to worry about - just don't swallow too much if you can help it.

I go to the beach about 4-5 times per week when in Pattaya, and swim maybe 2-3 times per visit. Never experienced any rashes, ear infections, stomach upsets etc..

I tend to agree with wpcoe's point: living in a bubble will not do your immune system much good in the long run.

Simon

Sounds like a guy I know who use to go to Africa and never used malaria tabs. He'd say "I've been visiting there for years. Nothing to worry about." Right. I'll stay in my bubble.

Here's some pictures The Dive Tribe has taken from Pattaya's beaches. Not good:

https://www.facebook...57.125700991044

Here's an old article from The Nation. What's strange is the reports I've read say Pattaya is better now than Jomtien!

http://www.nationmul...hes-108499.html

ENVIRONMENT: Battered beaches

Regulatory authorities are kicking up a stink over the condition of our premier beaches and islands which they have found to be far below levels necessary to satisfy growing tourist arrivals. ------------ PARADISE BURIED: Sea, sun, sand, surf and . . . an unholy stink None of Thailand's famed beaches actually qualify for a 5-star rating because they're still too filthy

[lovetotravel]

I think I'll stick to my swimming pool. Here's the 2008 report from the PCD:

http://infofile.pcd....FTOKEN=27690197

The cause of sea water around this

area deteriorated was that it had been

receiving water from the main rivers on the

upper gulf of Thailand. Additionally, it was directly

around the estuaries and the coasts. Most of

them had neither adequate nor enough waste

water treatment facilities.

And this one is an interesting read:

http://inpattayanow....beach-is-dirty/

The urban myth that Pattaya beach is dirty

Some really disturbing facts came out of this topic. For example, Dirtydog made the point that although Pattaya’s rainwater drainage should just contain rainwater, in fact it is a very common practice in the city for old shophouses, especially those in sois close to the beach, to connect their waste pipes and cess pits containing raw sewage into it.

Loy Toy also said this is common in residential properties and developments throughout the city.

As this stormwater exits into the sea, in both Pattaya and Jomtien, it inevitably carries more than rainwater with it.

Even if their sewage treatment was so good the output could be bottled and sold as Pattaya Pure Mountain Spring water, Pattaya beach would still have a significant pollution problem. Being "down stream", everything dumped into the Chao Phraya River (industrial waste, sewage, city drainage water), Samut Prakan (industrial waste, pesticides, prawn farming waste) and Chon Buri (industrial waste and pesticides) ends up at Pattaya beach and everywhere else on the Eastern seaboard albeit somewhat diluted from the source.

[londoedan]

....... albeit somewhat diluted from the source.

I think that's a bit of an understatement !

Anyway, I'm going to continue swimming - it's particularly refreshing at this time of year as the water is a bit cooler and 20-30 mins swimming in the sea is hard to beat as exercise.

[Tolley]

....... albeit somewhat diluted from the source.

I think that's a bit of an understatement !

Anyway, I'm going to continue swimming - it's particularly refreshing at this time of year as the water is a bit cooler and 20-30 mins swimming in the sea is hard to beat as exercise.

Up to you but I wouldn't dip my little toe into Pattaya Bay or Jomtien for that matter. There are alternatives like swimming pools for swimming you know?

[tropo]

Yeah, don't live in a bubble, but swimming in raw sewage is a bit extreme don't you think?

Couple of points:

The discharges, run-off etc from the city and hotels are diluted in an almost infinitely large amount of sea-water.

Pattaya has many attractions; for myself the main one is that is the coastal location. If I wasn't swimming in the sea several times each week I would probably move elsewhere.

That certainly does present a bit of a dilemma for you.

If it was an ocean surf beach with swells and currents pulling the sewage away I would somewhat agree with you, but Pattaya Bay is more like a giant bath tub than an "infinitely large" body of seawater.

Just think about how "infinitely large" the quantity of septic tank overflow is for such a large city.

[londoedan]

If it was an ocean surf beach with swells and currents pulling the sewage away I would somewhat agree with you, but Pattaya Bay is more like a giant bath tub than an "infinitely large" body of seawater.

I reckon you are still going to get convection currents and tidal movements mixing-up the waters, plus I have a lot of faith in thecapacity of the near infinitely large body of water to absorb and process waste material, particulalry organic matter (without wishing to be too specific). I wonder how many micro-organisms there are in 1 cc of seawater ?

Longer term, say next 3-5 years, I would like to re-locate to Bali or Java - water is cleaner there, even in the busier parts of Southern Bali.

[lovetotravel]

Yeah, don't live in a bubble, but swimming in raw sewage is a bit extreme don't you think?

Couple of points:

The discharges, run-off etc from the city and hotels are diluted in an almost infinitely large amount of sea-water.

Pattaya has many attractions; for myself the main one is that is the coastal location. If I wasn't swimming in the sea several times each week I would probably move elsewhere.

That certainly does present a bit of a dilemma for you.

If it was an ocean surf beach with swells and currents pulling the sewage away I would somewhat agree with you, but Pattaya Bay is more like a giant bath tub than an "infinitely large" body of seawater.

Just think about how "infinitely large" the quantity of septic tank overflow is for such a large city.

I think that can be said of the entire bay between Pattaya and Hua Hin. Think of the outflow from the rivers in Bangkok. Nasty stuff in there for sure.

[lumply]

Sewage with a slug of diesel fuel....Ugh! Make sure the youngster does not have any open sores

[tropo]

and 20-30 mins swimming in the sea is hard to beat as exercise.

Swimming is a poor substitute for land based exercises.