Foreign Tourists Head To Myanmar Islands As Thai Reefs Decline

[Skywalker69]

"We have the potential to become a gateway to hundreds of islands in southern Myanmar,"

Wot? No hub? Is gateway going to be the new 'in' word and hub relegated to the dictionary?

I'd like to see the Myanmar Government make the 'gateway' a revolving door and large No Entry signs erected - in Thai. Time for a bit of payback for the misery that Thailand has heaped on desperate Myanmar people for so long.

Yes, Thailand the "gateway" to Myanmar.

[smotherb]

"We have the potential to become a gateway to hundreds of islands in southern Myanmar,"

Wot? No hub? Is gateway going to be the new 'in' word and hub relegated to the dictionary?

I'd like to see the Myanmar Government make the 'gateway' a revolving door and large No Entry signs erected - in Thai. Time for a bit of payback for the misery that Thailand has heaped on desperate Myanmar people for so long.

gateway, most often refers to an entrance--Thailand's Southern Northwest being an entrance to Myanmar's Southwestern islands

hub, most often connotes a central point from which circumambient access to all surrounding points is possible--Myanmar's Southwestern islands being accessed from Thailand's Southern Northwest does not constitute circumambient access

[Skywalker69]

Wondering why only

is mentioned and not bigger, more developed and much better known Koh Phayam right next to it.

Gee, I thought Ko Chang was the second largest island in Thailand.

Koh Phayam is from North to South 8.47 km and from West to East 5.14 km.

Koh Chang is 27.43 km North to South and 12.89 km West to East.

Source. Google Earth.

[ratcatcher]

Wondering why only

is mentioned and not bigger, more developed and much better known Koh Phayam right next to it.

Gee, I thought Ko Chang was the second largest island in Thailand.

Koh Phayam is from North to South 8.47 km and from West to East 5.14 km.

Koh Chang is 27.43 km North to South and 12.89 km West to East.

Source. Google Earth.

Gee, I thought Ko Chang was the second largest island in Thailand.

Quite correct, number 2 after Phuket.

[Joe Mamma]

I lived in Hawaii years ago and upon returning many times have witnessed the gradual death of the reefs and oceans once clear now murky.

Now here in Thailand in just 15 years i have seen most islands and pristine beaches getting trashed. California, same same, mexico, ditto.

I guess i am lucky and fortunate to have witnessed the pure and divine!

[taninthai]

Wondering why only

is mentioned and not bigger, more developed and much better known Koh Phayam right next to it.

Gee, I thought Ko Chang was the second largest island in Thailand.

Koh Phayam is from North to South 8.47 km and from West to East 5.14 km.

Koh Chang is 27.43 km North to South and 12.89 km West to East.

Source. Google Earth.

Gee, I thought Ko Chang was the second largest island in Thailand.

Quite correct, number 2 after Phuket.

Do keep up we are talkin about a different ko Chang ,but don't tell everyone the fewer people that know about it the better.......shhhhhhhhh

[ratcatcher]

I lived in Hawaii years ago and upon returning many times have witnessed the gradual death of the reefs and oceans once clear now murky.

Now here in Thailand in just 15 years i have seen most islands and pristine beaches getting trashed. California, same same, mexico, ditto.

I guess i am lucky and fortunate to have witnessed the pure and divine!

This is what I think too.

[h90]

When I was diving I heard that here was a push put in permanent buoys and markers by the use of anchored points in the reefs and that would restrict the recreational diving to only those sites. This would reduce the damage caused by boat anchors and divers and leave areas pristine. Go to Fiji and dive and you will be lucky to see a piece of rubbish. The asians seem hell bent on destroying the total environment. In Australia and Fiji there is always a dedicated rubbish collection on any dive boat.

No just ban anchoring on the reefs....Or better ban anchors on dive boats.

Second ban shitting direct into the water. A tank must be required on say all dive boats within 1 year and on all other boats within 5 years.

And enforce it. And that would be the most difficult thing....

[h90]

Why are people blaming tourists for the sad state of Thailand's beaches? Its not tourists' fault the Thai government does nothing to enforce environmental regulations and allows Thai business to dump their waste directly into the sea. Hawaii, Cozumel and the Bahamas get a ton of tourists every year too yet their beaches seem to be doing just fine.

Actually it is easier with a lot of tourists than without. A clean beach is an asset that makes money.

A beach with tourists is like a production machine or a truck, you keep it in good order so it function well and makes more money.

(just forget the last sentence, I forgot it is about Thailand... I just recall some Thai companies and trucks....just forget that....forget the beach and build another tiffany show and if less tourists come, rise the prices so the profit is stable....)

[mrfill]

I really want to visit Myanmar, but I will wait until next year.

I think with Thailand getting more expensive than ever this year a lot of 'quality' overseas tourists will be having the same thoughts.

Well don't think it will be cheap. Hotels are very expensive in comparison as are taxi fares, rail fares and food - all at least double the price of Thailand.

Phones are almost useless, the pavements are the worst I have seen anywhere and the big cities are very dirty.

However, the Burmese people are possibly the most polite and charming people I have ever encountered.

Don't wait - progress there is very rapid and by next year they may have picked up all the Thai habits.

[Bagwan]

"We have the potential to become a gateway to hundreds of islands in southern Myanmar,"

Wot? No hub? Is gateway going to be the new 'in' word and hub relegated to the dictionary?

I'd like to see the Myanmar Government make the 'gateway' a revolving door and large No Entry signs erected - in Thai. Time for a bit of payback for the misery that Thailand has heaped on desperate Myanmar people for so long.

gateway, most often refers to an entrance--Thailand's Southern Northwest being an entrance to Myanmar's Southwestern islands

hub, most often connotes a central point from which circumambient access to all surrounding points is possible--Myanmar's Southwestern islands being accessed from Thailand's Southern Northwest does not constitute circumambient access

How very pedantic. You must be so proud of yourself. Now go and educate some Thais. They need it more than I do.

[jamhar]

I was incredibly disappointed with the state of TL's wildlife.

(There's a joke involving the sex trade industry in there somewhere! )

The national parks are pretty bad and the oceans are worse.

I cannot express how disappointed i was with the reefs.

I had better time snorkeling in a full wetsuit in California.

So the news does not surprise me at all.

I also don't see a quick solution

[waza]

sounds good i will go soon

[Johpa]

I'm not a lawyer, but couldn't the Burmese government enforce their border and not allow these Thai boats to come to their islands?

Perhaps. But could not the Thai government enforce their border and not allow Burmese soldiers to come across to attack minority groups as they have in the past. Oh that pesky trend of military men around the globe to go for the profit before defending sovereignty.

[LomSak27]

whats all this talk about beaches?!

That has nothing to do with the article posted in the OP - I can understand its a good deflection to talk about beaches and trash but the article was about the coral reefs.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Some off topic posts have been deleted. This article definitely has NOTHING to do with the sex industry. Give us a break....

[SeaVisionBurma]

The Islands in the Mergui Archipelagi used to be more or less unspoiled when I first went there diving in 1997.

But what was already happening then, was abundant dynamite fishing and illegal logging, mainly by Thais.

We used to go as far north as Caboosa Island and apart from the above mentioned crimes, it was a great place.

It's good that the vessels today are confined to the southernmost Islands. A negative point to this is that nobody can observe the destruction further north, which is still happening today.

Interesting post - and from someone who has spent many years living and working in these islands, I can confirm this is accurate...

[Potosi]

With a lot of tourists, Thai and foreigners alike, there is plenty of pollution washed out to the ocean that bleaches the corals. That or a rise in the temperatur of the water, or it's ph value. The pollution by settlements/tourism can be worse than by industrial facilities if there are no sewage plants. Myanmar hasn't much industry and tourism yet, but that is going to change. It's more beautiful than Thailand.

[catweazle]

All the tens of thousands of SCUBA divers have frightened the fish away from the Thai reefs which without fish start to die. It the the noise of the air bubbles which spooks fish. And of course a lot of inexperienced SCUBA divers inadvertently tread on the coral and kill it. The water in Myannma is so clear you don't need SCUBA to see all the beautiful reefs. So the answer is to ban SCUBA and encourage snorkeling which does not scare the fish away. But of course there is no money to be made if people don't use SCUBA. So the operates of dive shops and all the SCUBA teachers would not be happy in spite of the fact it would save the reefs.

What a load of bull$#ite you've been typing there, gamini... With over 3.200 dives under my belt this is by far the stupidest comment I ever read about Scuba diving and Scuba divers. Scuba divers frightening the fish away... Are you a professional comedian or what? Scuba divers are certainly the people concerned and active the most in PROTECTING reefs all over the world! It is usually uneducated snorkellers who have no clue that a coral is a living organism and step and tread on them. Hundreds of thousands of scuba divers are active worldwide as I type this in the fight to save sharks from becoming extinct due to shark finning.

However, the point here is that yours and most comments here have been written by non-divers who haven't got a clue and people who are not living here. I have been a dive center co-founder and liveaboard operator in Thailand many years ago and can tell you that it is definitely not only the Thais to be blamed, and especially not for the coral bleaching which occured after a unusually hot weather period that increased the water temperature by several degrees over a stretch of a few weeks, causing the polyps in the coral to die about three years ago.

The whale sharks which were frequently encountered all along Thailand's westcoast during high season disappeared in 1998, but they were not slaughtered by Thais, but by fishermen from India, who managed to kill almost all of the whale sharks that travelled up and down the west coast back then to sell the meat branded as "Tofu Shark". Whale sharks are harmless plancton feeders and the biggest fish on earth.

Now we get to Burma - Myanmar it is spelled by the way, and not Myannma - I have been diving there a lot back in 1996 to 1998, and back then it was awesome. The Burma Banks were so full of sharks that one needed to check the surface before jumping in to make sure he would not jump onto a silver tip shark. In 99, fishermen who definitely were neither Thai nor Burmese, but most likely from China, killed all silver tips by long line fishing. Going into Burma, under water you could hear the detonations of those dynamite fishers of whom the Burmese said were "Sea Gypsies" and asked about it, those "Sea Gypsies" would blame the Burmese themselves. Not Thais!!!

I have seen dive sites in Burma, devastated by dynamite fishing, dead sharks and dead fish all around, diving just about half an hour after hearing the BANG... I have been there, done that, I have seen things under water, Gamini, that you don't even wanna hear or think about. And almost all of those terrible things were done by fishermen and uneducated people who had no clue about the terminus "Eco-System" or how it works. And those people all were NOT scuba divers!!! Scuba Divers were the people who tried their best (with some even losing their lifes and/or jobs about it) to save the reefs and protect the environment.

Plus in addition, the Thai bashing and hailing the Burmese could stop here immediately as well please, as the Burmese were still bombing the $hit out of their reefs while a good chunk of Thai people already were avid and educated divers who started to protect reefs and do artificial reef projects, mooring line projects, etc. themselves after learning and understanding how fragile the world's reefs are.

Finally, I have to say that Burma will never get to the point were it could become a serious threat or competition to Thailand, as the people themselves over there are kind of strange, the food is crap, infrastructure sucks and always will due to corruption far beyond the level of believe, and because simply the whole package is absolutely not comparable to what Thailand has to offer. It needs more than just a few beautiful islands or colorful reefs to make an almost perfect holiday destination. And I still believe (even after 22 years living here) that Thailand still has what it takes. Burma does not!

Edited March 16, 2013 by catweazle

[mogoso]

People need to realize that the sunscreen they lave upon their bodies kill coral. Don't use it if your going diving or snorkling near coral.

[DeepInTheForest]

fyi. One of the main causes of coral bleaching globally is warmer temperatures. These are widely acknowledged to be due to the overwhelming amounts of CO2 produced by fossil-fuel burning. That's me and you, bub. Excerpts are posted below. Sorry if this info is redundant to you, gentle reader.

http://www.reefresilience.org/Toolkit_Coral/C2_BleachBasics.html

What Causes Bleaching?

The primary cause of mass bleaching is high water temperature. Other
stressors can have a cumulative impact that weakens corals, making
isolated bleaching and eventual death possible. Sources of stress on
coral communities include:

• Elevated water temperatures and bright sunlight
• Disease
• Urban and agricultural run-off pollution
• Salinity shock from heavy rains or floods
• Sedimentation from activities such as dredging

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/08/idUS52935383320110208

from Reuters, below, dated Feb, 2011:

"If there is a long-term solution to the Thai problem — and the global problem — it
lies in finding a realistic alternative to the combustion of fossil
fuels, thus reducing the CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere," said
Monty Halls, a spokesperson for the UK-based Shark and Coral
Conservation Trust (SCCT), who warned that it is quickly becoming too
late for the world's corals.

The bleaching in Thailand is said to be the worst in 20 years or more, while damage to the corals may well be the worst the country's ever seen, said Kasemsan Jinnawaso...

'Rainforests of the Sea'

The problem demands "urgent attention," Halls told SolveClimate News. He
estimated the cost to Thailand in lost diving tourism dollars at $2.5
million per year.Coral reefs, known as "the rainforests of the sea," are key to the planet's marine ecosystem and support about 4,000 species, including the marine food that more than two billion people depend on, according to figures from SCCT.

Bleaching occurs when oceans get unusually warm. Under heat stress, corals — which are living things — eject the algae that live inside their tissues and provide food in exchange for shelter. The ejection process is known as bleaching because of the white skeleton left behind when the corals get sick.

Sustained whitening can trigger the partial or total death of coral colonies,
which has happened to some parts of the Thai reefs.

In response to the bleaching, Thailand's Department of National Parks has
temporarily shut down 18 popular diving sites, including tourism hot
spot Phi Phi, and Similan, which is one of the top 10 diving
destinations in the world, according to the National Geographic Society.

The bleached reefs will stay closed for up to 14 months to let the coral recover.

Agencies responsible for the reefs are providing news and information to officials, tourism operators and "Moken" sea-gypsy communities, to keep all concerned groups updated and foster cooperation in reducing environmental impact, the DNP said.

Thailand Not Alone

Besides Thailand, many other countries have suffered coral bleaching outbreaks.
Last year, between May and August, 80 percent of some coral species
died off Indonesia's Aceh province. The U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation
Society (WCS) blamed the disaster on a dramatic rise in sea temperature
linked to global warming.

Further afield off Australia on the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world's best-kept marine parks,
which stands to gain diving tourists from Thailand's closures, is also
dogged by the problem. The Great
Barrier Reef experienced bleaching events in 1980, 1982, 1992, 1994,
1998, 2002 and 2006. While most areas recovered with low coral death
levels, some suffered severe damage, with up to 90 percent of corals
killed.

In 1998, a mass bleaching event killed 90 percent of the corals in the Indian Ocean. In 2010, the second hottest-year in recorded history, reefs bleached throughout the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean and off the coasts of Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as Thailand.

Unregulated Tourism a Cause

Some observers blame Thailand's bleaching epidemic on tourism, rather than
warming, though when contacted by SolveClimate News, local marine
biologists and environmentalists working around the reefs said they were
reluctant to speak with foreign media on any goverment-related issues.

Conservationist Niphon Phongsuwan, who has devoted his career to
protecting the Andaman Sea, singled out visiting swimmers and snorkelers
in an article in the local Nation newspaper. While surveying a damaged
reef around Koh Hey, known as Coral Island, he said he witnessed a group
of tourists destroy live coral as they swam and snorkeled.

Others have publicly blamed visitors for gathering coral in baskets for the
souvenir value, sometimes encouraged by rogue guides.

Despite the undoubted harmful effect of unregulated tourism, Halls
believes that only with carbon emissions cuts can the world "bring about
any significant change" in the health of coral reefs.

"The rate at which coral reefs can engender regrowth will be outstripped by
erosive [fossil-fuel burning] processes by the middle of this century,"
he warned.

Marine biologists — such as the ex-chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine
Science, Charlie Veron — have warned that if the processes continue and
globally coral colonies collapse, the whole food chain might crumble.

At least 19 percent of the world's coral reefs are already gone.
Another 15 percent could be dead within 20 years, according to figures
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Full list of Thailand marine sites that now ban divers:

Phang Nga province: Mo Koh Surin Island 's Ao Sutep, Ao Mai Ngam, Koh
Ster, Ao Pakkard and Hin Kong. Mo Koh Similan's East of Eden and Ao
Faiwab.

Krabi province: Nopparat Thara Park, Phi Phi, Hin Klang.

Satun province: Hat Chao Mai National Park's Koh Cher. Mu Ko Phetra
National Park's Koh Bulon Mai Pai and Koh Bulon Don. Koh Tarutao
National Park's Kohtakiang, Koh Hin Ngam, Koh Rawi and Koh Dong.

Chumphon province: Koh Maprao National Park's Mo Koh Chumphon.

Edited March 16, 2013 by DeepInTheForest

[keestha]

Wondering why only Koh Chang is mentioned and not bigger, more developed and much better known Koh Phayam right next to it.

Gee, I thought Ko Chang was the second largest island in Thailand.

There are two islands called Koh Chang. The island mentioned here is the small Koh Chang in Ranong, you are thinking about the big Koh Chang in Trat close to the Cambodian border.

[laislica]

All the tens of thousands of SCUBA divers have frightened the fish away from the Thai reefs which without fish start to die. It the the noise of the air bubbles which spooks fish. And of course a lot of inexperienced SCUBA divers inadvertently tread on the coral and kill it. The water in Myannma is so clear you don't need SCUBA to see all the beautiful reefs. So the answer is to ban SCUBA and encourage snorkeling which does not scare the fish away. But of course there is no money to be made if people don't use SCUBA. So the operates of dive shops and all the SCUBA teachers would not be happy in spite of the fact it would save the reefs.

What a load of bull$#ite you've been typing there, gamini... With over 3.200 dives under my belt this is by far the stupidest comment I ever read about Scuba diving and Scuba divers. Scuba divers frightening the fish away... Are you a professional comedian or what? Scuba divers are certainly the people concerned and active the most in PROTECTING reefs all over the world! It is usually uneducated snorkellers who have no clue that a coral is a living organism and step and tread on them. Hundreds of thousands of scuba divers are active worldwide as I type this in the fight to save sharks from becoming extinct due to shark finning.

However, the point here is that yours and most comments here have been written by non-divers who haven't got a clue and people who are not living here. I have been a dive center co-founder and liveaboard operator in Thailand many years ago and can tell you that it is definitely not only the Thais to be blamed, and especially not for the coral bleaching which occured after a unusually hot weather period that increased the water temperature by several degrees over a stretch of a few weeks, causing the polyps in the coral to die about three years ago.

The whale sharks which were frequently encountered all along Thailand's westcoast during high season disappeared in 1998, but they were not slaughtered by Thais, but by fishermen from India, who managed to kill almost all of the whale sharks that travelled up and down the west coast back then to sell the meat branded as "Tofu Shark". Whale sharks are harmless plancton feeders and the biggest fish on earth.

Now we get to Burma - Myanmar it is spelled by the way, and not Myannma - I have been diving there a lot back in 1996 to 1998, and back then it was awesome. The Burma Banks were so full of sharks that one needed to check the surface before jumping in to make sure he would not jump onto a silver tip shark. In 99, fishermen who definitely were neither Thai nor Burmese, but most likely from China, killed all silver tips by long line fishing. Going into Burma, under water you could hear the detonations of those dynamite fishers of whom the Burmese said were "Sea Gypsies" and asked about it, those "Sea Gypsies" would blame the Burmese themselves. Not Thais!!!

I have seen dive sites in Burma, devastated by dynamite fishing, dead sharks and dead fish all around, diving just about half an hour after hearing the BANG... I have been there, done that, I have seen things under water, Gamini, that you don't even wanna hear or think about. And almost all of those terrible things were done by fishermen and uneducated people who had no clue about the terminus "Eco-System" or how it works. And those people all were NOT scuba divers!!! Scuba Divers were the people who tried their best (with some even losing their lifes and/or jobs about it) to save the reefs and protect the environment.

Plus in addition, the Thai bashing and hailing the Burmese could stop here immediately as well please, as the Burmese were still bombing the $hit out of their reefs while a good chunk of Thai people already were avid and educated divers who started to protect reefs and do artificial reef projects, mooring line projects, etc. themselves after learning and understanding how fragile the world's reefs are.

Finally, I have to say that Burma will never get to the point were it could become a serious threat or competition to Thailand, as the people themselves over there are kind of strange, the food is crap, infrastructure sucks and always will due to corruption far beyond the level of believe, and because simply the whole package is absolutely not comparable to what Thailand has to offer. It needs more than just a few beautiful islands or colorful reefs to make an almost perfect holiday destination. And I still believe (even after 22 years living here) that Thailand still has what it takes. Burma does not!

An excellent post and accurate IMO.

Back in the late 50's I did some scuba diving but only in lakes and the sea around the UK.

In the 70's I started keeping fish as a hobby. (It all started with my daughter winning a goldfish).

The hobby got hold and the goldfish went into a garden pond. Freshwater tanks were introduced and I learned a lot about water quality and fish keeping.

Finally we kept reef fish and then I really learned.

Fish, including coral and other sea creatures (nudibranch etc) live in the most stable environment on the planet, the water temperature seldom changes in temperature, PH, salinity, oxygen levels, nitrates etc. Apart from natural disasters like a huge land storm lasting a long time and reducing the salinity, temperature PH etc.

Sea creatures normally, do not experience large changes in their environment and therefore they have not adapted a survival strategy. If the effects of change last too long, the sea creatures suffer and eventually die. Temperature change probably being the most dangerous to coral and it's something so subtle than folk usually don't notice it.

I agree that in the main, SCUBA divers are responsible people and back in the day with the British Sub Aqua Club, we were given lessons on all of the above and more.

In addition to the industrial fishing operation that you mentioned, may I add these.

The use of cyanide in the water to stun reef fish to make them easy to collect for sale.

Fleets of small boats full of day trippers free diving, they are usually slathered up with every kind of chemical sun screen and mozzy repellent available.

A few individuals would not matter but when it is hundreds every single day, it does matter.

Since most of these boats have no grey or black water tanks and there is no advice about sunscreens etc the pollution just mounts up.

Many sea creatures need artemia (brine shrimps) to survive and these will be among the frise to go if the water quality is reduced, after that it is a matter of time before the reef dies.

The coastal authorities have the responsibility to tighten things up, but, sadly, this is Thailand, where the mighty Baht is the supreme master, (not that Thailand is alone in this - the world has degenerated into a greedy, get rich quick, never mind the consequences, have a free lunch people).

The real answer is E D U C A T I O N

This should be started at the earliest age and should aim at teaching the future generations how the previous generations have (and still are) stuffing the environment of their planet and why.

[Phronesis]

As I have posted numerous times before, as soon as Myanmar gets its long stay visas in order, Thailand will be empty except for the handful expat pensioners locked in here with all of their net worth tied up in a house in the wife's name.

Thai's no this is a problem...that is why they are already organising trips into Myanmar.

I hope the people they deal with there treat them with the same RESPECT that the burmese workers receive here.

[culicine]

The problem now, with Myanmar and it's Islands opening up, is I feel they will also go the way of Thailand. At the moment it sounds as if St Luke is not so easily accessible. It needs to stay that way to minimise damage to it's environment. Sadly, I don;t think that is going to happen, and I don;t think Myanmar's environmental management will be any better than Thailands, but I will stand corrected.

[thaibeachlovers]

They say it's due to "bleaching", but is that just a cover to avoid saying that Thai reefs are ruined by overexploitation. I went on a tour to the national park near Samui in the early 90s, which included a glass bottom boat cruise. Only problem was, all the coral was destroyed.

Burma has a long coast line, and if they learn from Thailand's mistakes, they will take over as soon as they make it easy to get there.

Oh dear, I guess there must be loads of farang dive instructors sweating at the prospects.

Edited March 17, 2013 by thaibeachlovers

[thaibeachlovers]

All the tens of thousands of SCUBA divers have frightened the fish away from the Thai reefs which without fish start to die. It the the noise of the air bubbles which spooks fish. And of course a lot of inexperienced SCUBA divers inadvertently tread on the coral and kill it. The water in Myannma is so clear you don't need SCUBA to see all the beautiful reefs. So the answer is to ban SCUBA and encourage snorkeling which does not scare the fish away. But of course there is no money to be made if people don't use SCUBA. So the operates of dive shops and all the SCUBA teachers would not be happy in spite of the fact it would save the reefs.

What a load of bull$#ite you've been typing there, gamini... With over 3.200 dives under my belt this is by far the stupidest comment I ever read about Scuba diving and Scuba divers. Scuba divers frightening the fish away... Are you a professional comedian or what? Scuba divers are certainly the people concerned and active the most in PROTECTING reefs all over the world! It is usually uneducated snorkellers who have no clue that a coral is a living organism and step and tread on them. Hundreds of thousands of scuba divers are active worldwide as I type this in the fight to save sharks from becoming extinct due to shark finning.

However, the point here is that yours and most comments here have been written by non-divers who haven't got a clue and people who are not living here. I have been a dive center co-founder and liveaboard operator in Thailand many years ago and can tell you that it is definitely not only the Thais to be blamed, and especially not for the coral bleaching which occured after a unusually hot weather period that increased the water temperature by several degrees over a stretch of a few weeks, causing the polyps in the coral to die about three years ago.

The whale sharks which were frequently encountered all along Thailand's westcoast during high season disappeared in 1998, but they were not slaughtered by Thais, but by fishermen from India, who managed to kill almost all of the whale sharks that travelled up and down the west coast back then to sell the meat branded as "Tofu Shark". Whale sharks are harmless plancton feeders and the biggest fish on earth.

Now we get to Burma - Myanmar it is spelled by the way, and not Myannma - I have been diving there a lot back in 1996 to 1998, and back then it was awesome. The Burma Banks were so full of sharks that one needed to check the surface before jumping in to make sure he would not jump onto a silver tip shark. In 99, fishermen who definitely were neither Thai nor Burmese, but most likely from China, killed all silver tips by long line fishing. Going into Burma, under water you could hear the detonations of those dynamite fishers of whom the Burmese said were "Sea Gypsies" and asked about it, those "Sea Gypsies" would blame the Burmese themselves. Not Thais!!!

I have seen dive sites in Burma, devastated by dynamite fishing, dead sharks and dead fish all around, diving just about half an hour after hearing the BANG... I have been there, done that, I have seen things under water, Gamini, that you don't even wanna hear or think about. And almost all of those terrible things were done by fishermen and uneducated people who had no clue about the terminus "Eco-System" or how it works. And those people all were NOT scuba divers!!! Scuba Divers were the people who tried their best (with some even losing their lifes and/or jobs about it) to save the reefs and protect the environment.

Plus in addition, the Thai bashing and hailing the Burmese could stop here immediately as well please, as the Burmese were still bombing the $hit out of their reefs while a good chunk of Thai people already were avid and educated divers who started to protect reefs and do artificial reef projects, mooring line projects, etc. themselves after learning and understanding how fragile the world's reefs are.

Finally, I have to say that Burma will never get to the point were it could become a serious threat or competition to Thailand, as the people themselves over there are kind of strange, the food is crap, infrastructure sucks and always will due to corruption far beyond the level of believe, and because simply the whole package is absolutely not comparable to what Thailand has to offer. It needs more than just a few beautiful islands or colorful reefs to make an almost perfect holiday destination. And I still believe (even after 22 years living here) that Thailand still has what it takes. Burma does not!

An excellent post and accurate IMO.

Back in the late 50's I did some scuba diving but only in lakes and the sea around the UK.

In the 70's I started keeping fish as a hobby. (It all started with my daughter winning a goldfish).

The hobby got hold and the goldfish went into a garden pond. Freshwater tanks were introduced and I learned a lot about water quality and fish keeping.

Finally we kept reef fish and then I really learned.

Fish, including coral and other sea creatures (nudibranch etc) live in the most stable environment on the planet, the water temperature seldom changes in temperature, PH, salinity, oxygen levels, nitrates etc. Apart from natural disasters like a huge land storm lasting a long time and reducing the salinity, temperature PH etc.

Sea creatures normally, do not experience large changes in their environment and therefore they have not adapted a survival strategy. If the effects of change last too long, the sea creatures suffer and eventually die. Temperature change probably being the most dangerous to coral and it's something so subtle than folk usually don't notice it.

I agree that in the main, SCUBA divers are responsible people and back in the day with the British Sub Aqua Club, we were given lessons on all of the above and more.

In addition to the industrial fishing operation that you mentioned, may I add these.

The use of cyanide in the water to stun reef fish to make them easy to collect for sale.

Fleets of small boats full of day trippers free diving, they are usually slathered up with every kind of chemical sun screen and mozzy repellent available.

A few individuals would not matter but when it is hundreds every single day, it does matter.

Since most of these boats have no grey or black water tanks and there is no advice about sunscreens etc the pollution just mounts up.

Many sea creatures need artemia (brine shrimps) to survive and these will be among the frise to go if the water quality is reduced, after that it is a matter of time before the reef dies.

The coastal authorities have the responsibility to tighten things up, but, sadly, this is Thailand, where the mighty Baht is the supreme master, (not that Thailand is alone in this - the world has degenerated into a greedy, get rich quick, never mind the consequences, have a free lunch people).

The real answer is E D U C A T I O N

This should be started at the earliest age and should aim at teaching the future generations how the previous generations have (and still are) stuffing the environment of their planet and why.

Hail to the BSAC- I learned with the Singapore branch in the 70s, and we used to go diving off Mersing. Amazing coral at the islands there. However, there was no developed diving industry like in Thailand now. Seems it's either no people or no coral.

< the world has degenerated into a greedy, get rich quick, never mind the consequences>

True, but what can be done- probably nothing but try and get in ahead of the masses, before they destroy everything.

[thaibeachlovers]

fyi. One of the main causes of coral bleaching globally is warmer temperatures. These are widely acknowledged to be due to the overwhelming amounts of CO2 produced by fossil-fuel burning. That's me and you, bub. Excerpts are posted below. Sorry if this info is redundant to you, gentle reader.

http://www.reefresilience.org/Toolkit_Coral/C2_BleachBasics.html

What Causes Bleaching?

The primary cause of mass bleaching is high water temperature. Other

stressors can have a cumulative impact that weakens corals, making

isolated bleaching and eventual death possible. Sources of stress on

coral communities include:

• Elevated water temperatures and bright sunlight
• Disease
• Urban and agricultural run-off pollution
• Salinity shock from heavy rains or floods
• Sedimentation from activities such as dredging

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/08/idUS52935383320110208

from Reuters, below, dated Feb, 2011:

"If there is a long-term solution to the Thai problem — and the global problem — it

lies in finding a realistic alternative to the combustion of fossil

fuels, thus reducing the CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere," said

Monty Halls, a spokesperson for the UK-based Shark and Coral

Conservation Trust (SCCT), who warned that it is quickly becoming too

late for the world's corals.

The bleaching in Thailand is said to be the worst in 20 years or more, while damage to the corals may well be the worst the country's ever seen, said Kasemsan Jinnawaso...

'Rainforests of the Sea'

The problem demands "urgent attention," Halls told SolveClimate News. He

estimated the cost to Thailand in lost diving tourism dollars at $2.5

million per year.Coral reefs, known as "the rainforests of the sea," are key to the planet's marine ecosystem and support about 4,000 species, including the marine food that more than two billion people depend on, according to figures from SCCT.

Bleaching occurs when oceans get unusually warm. Under heat stress, corals — which are living things — eject the algae that live inside their tissues and provide food in exchange for shelter. The ejection process is known as bleaching because of the white skeleton left behind when the corals get sick.

Sustained whitening can trigger the partial or total death of coral colonies,

which has happened to some parts of the Thai reefs.

In response to the bleaching, Thailand's Department of National Parks has

temporarily shut down 18 popular diving sites, including tourism hot

spot Phi Phi, and Similan, which is one of the top 10 diving

destinations in the world, according to the National Geographic Society.

The bleached reefs will stay closed for up to 14 months to let the coral recover.

Agencies responsible for the reefs are providing news and information to officials, tourism operators and "Moken" sea-gypsy communities, to keep all concerned groups updated and foster cooperation in reducing environmental impact, the DNP said.

Thailand Not Alone

Besides Thailand, many other countries have suffered coral bleaching outbreaks.

Last year, between May and August, 80 percent of some coral species

died off Indonesia's Aceh province. The U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation

Society (WCS) blamed the disaster on a dramatic rise in sea temperature

linked to global warming.

Further afield off Australia on the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world's best-kept marine parks,

which stands to gain diving tourists from Thailand's closures, is also

dogged by the problem. The Great

Barrier Reef experienced bleaching events in 1980, 1982, 1992, 1994,

1998, 2002 and 2006. While most areas recovered with low coral death

levels, some suffered severe damage, with up to 90 percent of corals

killed.

In 1998, a mass bleaching event killed 90 percent of the corals in the Indian Ocean. In 2010, the second hottest-year in recorded history, reefs bleached throughout the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean and off the coasts of Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as Thailand.

Unregulated Tourism a Cause

Some observers blame Thailand's bleaching epidemic on tourism, rather than

warming, though when contacted by SolveClimate News, local marine

biologists and environmentalists working around the reefs said they were

reluctant to speak with foreign media on any goverment-related issues.

Conservationist Niphon Phongsuwan, who has devoted his career to

protecting the Andaman Sea, singled out visiting swimmers and snorkelers

in an article in the local Nation newspaper. While surveying a damaged

reef around Koh Hey, known as Coral Island, he said he witnessed a group

of tourists destroy live coral as they swam and snorkeled.

Others have publicly blamed visitors for gathering coral in baskets for the

souvenir value, sometimes encouraged by rogue guides.

Despite the undoubted harmful effect of unregulated tourism, Halls

believes that only with carbon emissions cuts can the world "bring about

any significant change" in the health of coral reefs.

"The rate at which coral reefs can engender regrowth will be outstripped by

erosive [fossil-fuel burning] processes by the middle of this century,"

he warned.

Marine biologists — such as the ex-chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine

Science, Charlie Veron — have warned that if the processes continue and

globally coral colonies collapse, the whole food chain might crumble.

At least 19 percent of the world's coral reefs are already gone.

Another 15 percent could be dead within 20 years, according to figures

from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Full list of Thailand marine sites that now ban divers:

Phang Nga province: Mo Koh Surin Island 's Ao Sutep, Ao Mai Ngam, Koh

Ster, Ao Pakkard and Hin Kong. Mo Koh Similan's East of Eden and Ao

Faiwab.

Krabi province: Nopparat Thara Park, Phi Phi, Hin Klang.

Satun province: Hat Chao Mai National Park's Koh Cher. Mu Ko Phetra

National Park's Koh Bulon Mai Pai and Koh Bulon Don. Koh Tarutao

National Park's Kohtakiang, Koh Hin Ngam, Koh Rawi and Koh Dong.

Chumphon province: Koh Maprao National Park's Mo Koh Chumphon.

<fyi. One of the main causes of coral bleaching globally is warmer temperatures. These are widely acknowledged to be due to the overwhelming amounts of CO2 produced by fossil-fuel burning. That's me and you, bub.>

Ever heard of volcanoes? Thay also produce CO2 etc.

I take it you do not use any carbon based transportation, or use electricity generated by carbon fuel???????

<Despite the undoubted harmful effect of unregulated tourism, Halls

believes that only with carbon emissions cuts can the world "bring about

any significant change" in the health of coral reefs.

"The rate at which coral reefs can engender regrowth will be outstripped by

erosive [fossil-fuel burning] processes by the middle of this century,"

he warned.

Marine biologists — such as the ex-chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine

Science, Charlie Veron — have warned that if the processes continue and

globally coral colonies collapse, the whole food chain might crumble.>

If you are correct, the only realistic solution is to eliminate most of the human population- but that's not going to happen till Gaia steps in with pestilence and famine, or suchlike.

Why won't climate change advocates be realistic and push for population control?

A few windmills and electric cars isn't going to change anything.

[Andre0720]

Of course there is another Chang Island, down past Trat. Along with Phuket and Sumui Islands before it, Chang Island is being trashed by tourism and rampant developement.

Now this other Chang Island will be in the greedy speculators' sights. "We can promote Chang Island further while protecting its good environment" Khun Somchai said. Protecting it my *ss.

As a tourist looking for that untouched pristine experience, just by going to these places we are contributing to the destruction of the very thing we are looking for.

I have visited untouched pristine areas, nice to look at for a while, but then I got bored of being alone with nature.

I do enjoy the company of people (most of the time), I just wish that these people did not contribute to the destruction of that beautiful nature, pristine or not.

[Rustapha]

"We have the potential to become a gateway to hundreds of islands in southern Myanmar,"

Wot? No hub? Is gateway going to be the new 'in' word and hub relegated to the dictionary?

I'd like to see the Myanmar Government make the 'gateway' a revolving door and large No Entry signs erected - in Thai. Time for a bit of payback for the misery that Thailand has heaped on desperate Myanmar people for so long.

The Thai's / Siamese, have long memories, They don't forget the raping & pillaging & occupation of Autthaya hundreds of years ago.