A Third Of Thailand's Coastal Reefs Destroyed By Sediment

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ENVIRONMENT

A third of coastal reefs destroyed by sediment

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Massive sediments caused by near by land development cover coral reefs at Phuket Province's Au Tang Khen. Pictures by Phuket Marine Biological Center.

BANGKOK: -- More than a third of all coral reefs near coastal areas around the country have been destroyed by sediment from land developments to build hotels, resorts and private homes.

The area of destroyed reef totals more than 35,520 rai - in excess of 14,200 acres - of 96,000 rai of reef along coastal areas, according to the 2009 national strategic/action plan to protect coastal reefs.

On the Andaman coast, about half (50 per cent) the coral reefs covering 49,000 rai were degraded, while about a quarter (24 per cent) of 47,000 rai of reefs in the Gulf of Thailand were destroyed.

Land projects on coastal areas were the main destroyer of coral reefs, according to Pinsak Surasawadee, a director of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department's Office of Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation.

"The removal of land surfaces in coastal areas has sped up the amount of sediment flowing into the sea, affecting reefs, and aquatic animals and plants," he explained.

The large amount of sediment in the sea had also blocked sunlight and affected the growth of coral.

"The problem is many builders do not follow guidelines for the environmental impact assessment, which require them to construct sediment retention to prevent soil flowing into the sea," he said.

The sea watch agency found that coral reefs around three islands in Surat Thani province - Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan, and Koh Tao - were severely damaged by a huge amount of sediment, as was Phuket Island and Koh Yao.

"We have been discussed this problem with the department to try to find effective ways to reduce the impact from coastal development, especially in Phuket, which has areas designated for environmental protection, but law enforcement has never been implemented," he said.

Department officials had no authority to arrest wrongdoers who caused damage to coral reefs and marine resources.

The Marine and Coastal Resources Department wants the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning to revise the regulation, to give its staff more authority under the 1992 Environmental Act, so they can arrest wrongdoers.

-- The Nation 2012-03-20

[maidu]

I saw that first hand when I went snorkeling off Ko Pang Ngan 26 years ago. It was already happening before then, but it takes at least a quarter century for an environmental survey in Thailand (awareness, planning, execution of plan, assess results, publishing - they all work at glacial pace in Land of 'Mai Pen Rai').

Part of the reason I chose to reside in northern instead of southern Thailand (in spite of bad air) was because of the decrepit state of sea shores. Some of the destruction will happen regardless, but much of it is avoidable. The most important factor in husbandry is local peoples' awareness. If locals care enough about the environment, then healing and preventative action can follow. As it is, trash is still strewn about on-shore and off-shore, manatees are killed, turtles are suffocated by plastic, fish and aquatic mammals are suffocated by discarded nets, .........the list goes on and on.

Adults can't change their varicose thinking habits much, but at least there's some hope for kids. Let's teach our kids about environmental husbandry, and show them ways they can tangibly assit mother nature.

[maidu]

Headline in 5 years: Half of coastal Reefs destroyed by sediment.

Headline in 10 years: Three Quarters of coastal Reefs destroyed by sediment.

Headlines in 15 years: All of Thailand's Coastal Reefs Destroyed by Sediment.

And all along, Thailand's selfish and myopic politicians will be squabbling about .......political posturing - particularly Mr. "I'm through with politics" Thaksin and his sheeple followers and apologists.

[Thai at Heart]

At least foreigners don't "control" it through nominees. But then, maybe they would have saved them.

[MESmith]

Destruction of mangrove forests wont have helped.

[AleG]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

[Soupdragon]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

Put a video on Youtube. It seems to be the most effective method of getting the Thais attention.

[Reasonableman]

Tragic lack of environmental awareness, planning, legislation and enforcement, the result of the "use, make a quick profit, take no responsibility" culture, with scant, if any, thought for the environmental consequences...You reap what you sow... Grrrrrrr...

[garrya]

"The Marine and Coastal Resources Department wants the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning to revise the regulation, to give its staff more authority under the 1992 Environmental Act, so they can arrest wrongdoers."

So what have they been doing so far? I would not give a single satang to the managemement of this department as they let their coastal areas perish. Sad sad sad.

[tragickingdom]

The problem is that Thai governments feel more obliged to arrest children with a pill than to catch the rich and influential property Mafia. After all these developers are big time political contributors on local and provincial level and a nice kickback is hard to refuse. The Thai police must have a zillion policemen that are not necessary anyhow, they could be put to good use. Impose fines of tens of millions of baht and the problem will solve itself.

[TackyToo]

At least foreigners don't "control" it through nominees. But then, maybe they would have saved them.

My first thought was: How will they manage to blame evil foreigner and neighboring countries for this? Let's see!

[4u2mad]

At least foreigners don't "control" it through nominees. But then, maybe they would have saved them.

My first thought was: How will they manage to blame evil foreigner and neighboring countries for this? Let's see!

Easy, It's the Farang owned resorts that are dumping raw sewerage into the sea! Korean BBQ's responsible for air pollution in the North! Flying pigs 12 o'clock high!

[TackyToo]

I saw that first hand when I went snorkeling off Ko Pang Ngan 26 years ago. It was already happening before then, but it takes at least a quarter century for an environmental survey in Thailand (awareness, planning, execution of plan, assess results, publishing - they all work at glacial pace in Land of 'Mai Pen Rai').

Part of the reason I chose to reside in northern instead of southern Thailand (in spite of bad air) was because of the decrepit state of sea shores. Some of the destruction will happen regardless, but much of it is avoidable. The most important factor in husbandry is local peoples' awareness. If locals care enough about the environment, then healing and preventative action can follow. As it is, trash is still strewn about on-shore and off-shore, manatees are killed, turtles are suffocated by plastic, fish and aquatic mammals are suffocated by discarded nets, .........the list goes on and on.

Adults can't change their varicose thinking habits much, but at least there's some hope for kids. Let's teach our kids about environmental husbandry, and show them ways they can tangibly assit mother nature.

“Let's teach our kids about environmental husbandry, and show them ways they can tangibly assit mother nature.”

I wouldn’t bet on that as long as they prefer to assist auntie “Greedisgood” her sister “Idon’tcare” and uncle “Upayme”.

[cheshiremusicman]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

Put a video on Youtube. It seems to be the most effective method of getting the Thais attention.

They would only watch this if it was full of 'stupid childlike sounds' and 'people dressed like clowns' in 'over bright colours'-- Yes, Thai 'soap' at its best.

[Tanaka]

Thai's general attitude, "If you do not see a problem, there is no problem". Look around you in village anywhere. You have houses on stilts and the area under the houses is filled with crap, junk, old bikes and whatever. If you ask some of them why they live like this, they do not understand the question. They do not see the shit when they are inside their house so there is no problem, there is no crap around.

Same same letting raw sewage run into the sea. It goes into the water and disappears, n o problem. Look, the sea looks fine. What, water polluted, corals destroyed? Mai pen rai, not my problem.

I do not think their attitude is going to change anytime soon and not until they have completely messed up their country.

Edited March 20, 2012 by Tanaka

[anterian]

In my youth I watched the English countryside being progressively ruined by urbanisation, now in my old age I see it being repeated in Thailand. Humanity is a blight on the face of the Earth.

[pacovl46]

Implement the law immediately! Order everyone who's causing the excessive sediment flow to do something within a month or to pay a massive fine and spend a year or two in BKK Hilton. Plus, scratch the plans for the new f.cking disney amusement park and spend it on saving the maritime wildlife!!!

[pacovl46]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

Put a video on Youtube. It seems to be the most effective method of getting the Thais attention.

I'm gonna be on Koh Tao next month. I'll take that video and post it then!

[AleG]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

Put a video on Youtube. It seems to be the most effective method of getting the Thais attention.

I'm gonna be on Koh Tao next month. I'll take that video and post it then!

If it´s still there it´s about three quarters of the way down Sairee Beach, going from the pier in the direction of Ngan Yuan island.

Filthy, smelly water and blackened sand around it, if you are lucky you can jump across it, or else have to detour into the walking street.

[12DrinkMore]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

Koh Tao has been totally destroyed over the last 10 years.

it will never get better, only worse. The island is far far too small to support the amount of development.

Killing the golden goose comes to mind.

[12DrinkMore]

In my youth I watched the English countryside being progressively ruined by urbanisation, now in my old age I see it being repeated in Thailand. Humanity is a blight on the face of the Earth.

Totally agree.

But we're locked into some bloody growth fixation.

Everything must to grow and consume more.

Why?

[anterian]

In my youth I watched the English countryside being progressively ruined by urbanisation, now in my old age I see it being repeated in Thailand. Humanity is a blight on the face of the Earth.

Totally agree.

But we're locked into some bloody growth fixation.

Everything must to grow and consume more.

Why?

You ask why, look to our Christian heritage, "Go forth and multiply " the Bible says. Or look up "the parable of the talents" in the New testament. It is part of our cultural heritage, even if now you are an atheist.

[KIWIBATCH]

Thailand......."hub" of partly destroyed reefs due to uncontrolled sediment discharge from the land (and the reefs will be eventually destroyed)...."hub" of raw sewerage discharge into the sea......."hub" of mai pen rai..."hub" of lack of foresight...."hub" of not my problem....

[bigbamboo]

A sad case of mai pen 35,520 rai.

[moonbarman]

And according to the op all this was in 2009, so how much worse is it now three years later with the non stop building that has gone on since then.

[IsaanUSA]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

How raw are we talking? Like floating poo, toilet paper and tampons?

Or sewage that has been processed?

[tlansford]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

Put a video on Youtube. It seems to be the most effective method of getting the Thais attention.

I'm gonna be on Koh Tao next month. I'll take that video and post it then!

It's just south of Lotus Bar.

[AleG]

At Sairee Beach, in the (ought to be) tropical paradise island of Koh Tao there's a raw sewage stream bisecting the beach. If nothing gets done about such an obvious issue I don't expect nebulous notions about silt to get any priority.

How raw are we talking? Like floating poo, toilet paper and tampons?

Or sewage that has been processed?

As in black, putrid water, as the average klong/sewer you see in the cities.

I've found a photo of the area, this filth dumps straight into Koh Tao's main beach.

The TAT should get their asses in gear and instead of coming with idiotic slogans and brain dead tourist attracting ploys (fish farms in Chiang Mai <deleted>!) they should work in fixing this sort of things.

Tourist goes back home and friends ask how was that holiday in that paradisaical island they saw in the brochure: "there was river of s**t on the beach!". Friends book their holidays somewhere else. Simple as that.

The things that made Thailand such an attractive place are dying under their noses, nobody in charge seems to give a dam_n about it.

Edited March 20, 2012 by AleG

[DeepInTheForest]

At least foreigners don't "control" it through nominees. But then, maybe they would have saved them.

My first thought was: How will they manage to blame evil foreigner and neighboring countries for this? Let's see!

Easy, It's the Farang owned resorts that are dumping raw sewerage into the sea! Korean BBQ's responsible for air pollution in the North! Flying pigs 12 o'clock high!

Yes, it's true. Foreigners would do a better job of caring for corals. Just look at Australia's Barrier Reef.

It is noted that 80% of the land adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef is farmland that supports agricultural production, intensive cropping of sugar cane, and major beef cattle grazing. (GBR, 2007) These types of agriculture and cattle production pose large threats to the Great Barrier Reef close by. Fertilizers are highly used with agriculture and contain high amounts of phosphorous and nitrates... Overall when these fertilizers and the nutrients used, the runoff and leaching that occurs posses a large threat to the coral ecosystem.

http://commserv.ucda.../fertilizer.jpg

Pesticides are another agricultural practice that damages the health of coral reefs... pesticides are made up of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic and other toxins which are not only dangerous to humans, but other aquatic and plant species. The pesticides are found in the runoff that occurs with erosion of farm soil, taking the chemicals downstream and into the coral ecosystems off the coast.... pesticide and fertilizers have many negative impacts on the Great Barrier Reef and its diverse ecosystem.

An example of the dangerous harm the farmers have caused the Great Barrier Reef from runoff are those located in Queensland Australia... The Queensland farms have been damaging the reefs because of increased run-off of agricultural sediments, nutrients and chemicals. They have reduced coral cover and biodiversity in recent years. Two scientists, Katharina Fabricius and Glen De’ath of Australia Institute of Marine Science, have compared the health of the reef at several different locations close to agricultural areas with that at several others around 400 kilometers away. The technique used was an epidemiological technique... Overall this research has led to the conclusion that farming in this area and the pesticides and fertilizers used are a major health risk for the coral and biodiversity of the reefs.

The runoff from many farmlands by the coast is also destroying the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef with the major increase in population of the crown-of-thorns starfish. Nutrient run-off has been a main trigger for crown-of-thorns starfish who eat coral across the Great Barrier Reef. There is evidence that this is due to water pollution rather than over-fishing or natural causes. These large increases in crown-of-thorns starfish started back in the early 1960’s. Since then around every 15 years there has been another large increase in this starfish. Glenn De’ath and his colleagues chose to look at the influence of chlorophyll levels in reef waters, which indicate the amount of phytoplankton available for the crown-of-thorns starfish larvae to consume. A doubling of the chlorophyll in water leads to a tenfold increase in the crown-of-thorns starfish larvae’s survival rate. It is also shown that run-off nutrients such as phosphorous, has increased over the past 50 years which has driven an increase in phytoplankton levels. By changing the nutrient levels found in the water downward, they would decrease significantly the amount of crown-of-thorns starfish that are destroying the Great Barrier Reef. (Young, 2004)

http://sitemaker.umi...roup3/pollution

Edited March 20, 2012 by DeepInTheForest

[DeepInTheForest]

Not mentioned in this article or comments is the fact that the corals in this region are facing an enormous threat from global warming. As carbon dioxide levels rise, the calcium carbonate that the hard reefs are comprised of dissolves.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119856&page=1#.T2jf6NmjmWE

http://thewe.cc/wepl...arrier_reef.htm

There are other temperature-related effects as well. While I am loath to point fingers, it is worth mentioning that industrialization is the major cause of this. Before taking others to task, it is always wise to examine one's own back yard.

Edited March 20, 2012 by DeepInTheForest