Oil spill on Hua Hin beach

[soalbundy]

nitrogen and phosphorus can be used to help break it down, for you unlucky beach residents, and see what comes on the next tide

Free oil.

[elgordo38]

Yes, these 3 farangs are not disgusted paddling in the molasses.

Perhaps it is their way of taking sea baths for health, such as mud baths.

If they come up with a reward for the BIB or the navy the culprit will soon be produced bruises and all.

[Briggsy]

Somebody is sending a message.

[regfrancis]

Vandalism!

[NCC1701A]

Thailand is a filthy place. Garbage everywhere. You get used to it after a while. I live in Hua Hin and the ocean water is ALWAYS FILTHY. You will start itching soon after you go in the water. You are crazy if you walk barefooted on the beach there is so much broken glass. There is sometimes human waste floating in the water here. Why come here or invest in a condo?

Horrible traffic jams in Hua Hin. Overbuilt, no planning, light pollution, sound pollution, water pollution and big time AIR POLLUTION!. Grey hazy skies.

I am leaving this area. Expensive and filthy.

do you think the Thais could get a helicopter up in the air and see if they can find a source of the spill? "No, cannot."

[bluebluewater]

I was at Kao Takiab this evening south of the monkey mountain. Pretty nasty and I did not go near the water.

[cardinalblue]

Unfortunately, beach garbage is pretty normal for Thailand...

If they decide to clean up the oil, should also pick up the garbage at the same time..

My guess is they will make an effort to deal with the oil but do nothing about the garbage...embarrassing in my book

[wabothai]

perhaps they secretly bought the submarines.

[malcoml]

No problem here.....

Beaches along with golf are just common excuses people use when they tell their friends in the west why they are going on holidays to Thailand.

Most don't leave their seat in the local beer bar unless they are on the way to the short time room.

[webfact]

Hua Hin beach hit by 10km long oil slick



HUA HIN: -- An oil slick stretching about ten kilometers long hit the beach of Hua Hin emitting foul smell and driving away local and foreign tourists from the beach.

The presence of the oil slick prompted Hua Hin mayor Nopporn Wutthikul to seek help from the Navy to find out if the problem was caused by oil spills from commercial freighters or large fishing boats or any of those vessels sank in the sea off Hua Hin causing the oil spills.

In the meantime, specimens of the oil slick were sent to the environment office for tests.

Hua Hin district officer Sutthipong Klai-udom said it was initially suspected that the oil was deliberately dumped into the sea by a vessel dealing in contraband goods.

He nevertheless advised tourists not to venture into the sea for 1-2 days until the situation has returned to normal.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/hua-hin-beach-hit-by-10km-long-oil-slick

-- Thai PBS 2015-10-28

[Mr Creosote]

Interesting article does not say anything about where it came from, however being an ex seaman I would say its bunker oil, heavy fuel oil, discharged from some ships bilge.

Confused here. Why would bunker fuel be in a ships bilge system?

[Mr Creosote]

Went for a walk on Takiab beach about an hour ago and it is filthy. It is definitely an oil based substance. It is very thick in blobs where you can actually pick it up. But then it gets messy and hard to get off stuff like your feet or shoes. Had to use the clothes washing powder to remove it and it took some effort. The beach is looking terrible and it will greatly affect wildlife and being the start of the tourist season, there may be some very disappointed people if something isn't done soon.

Ya, you shouldn't touch since it could be crude oil and possibly toxic. Here is the MSDS (Master Safety Data Sheet) on on crude oil explaining the hazards:

https://tsocorpsite.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/crude-oil-generic.pdf

[lvr181]

What a catastrophe. Do we have more details on the origin of the spill? Thank you.

Are you kidding? Thai authorities will investigate! It is highly likely that they will never get to prove where the spill originated from but they will investigate! In fact, I think they will say many times "We are investigating", but will anything happen? History suggests too often much talking but little real action to solve problems.

[jlwilliamsjr18]

Forget it...the spin is on. The culprit will never be known. The return to normal condition is no big deal, it'll still be polluted.

[godden]

Every year around this time there is trash spilled on the beaches of Hua Hin. Apparently the spills come from the nearest river Northside, after heavy rains all the way from China. This oil spill is most likely from the same origin. Usually the Hua Hin beach down to Kao Takiab is very clean and the garbage pickup on the beach very efficient. Most Russians that I meet on the beach are families, friendly and polite.

I had a dream.

[ClutchClark]

It is not easy to track down the source of these types of "spills" or "discharges".

The size of the coverage (reported at 10 km) and the photos of the spill itself indicate it occurred days ago and offshore. The responsible party has long since sailed on.

Perhaps there was satellite imagery at the time of the discharge but that is a 1-in-a-100.

Contrary to what most posters have suggested here, the hotels and tour organizations in Thsiland do have a very real interest in stopping this type of occurance and are a rather influential group that would very much like to turn these negstive headlines around by a new headline that says, "Offender is identified and being proesecuted".

But ai will be the first to admit the statement in there about tourists giving it 1-2 days to return to normal is really intentionally misleading and very similar to the oil spill last year that was reported "good as new" within a few days.

[rebelplatoon]

Hua hin lost it's sparkle for me 25 years ago. First lived there for a while from 81-83. Had to go back about a year ago it looked devastated to me. It's like a coastal village on the Mediterranean now, so many Europeans. Most interesting buildings made place for big impersonal hotels. Could walk on the beach from hua hin to khao takiap, now lots of fences and dirt. It's called progress....

[FangFerang]

It was probably one of those illegal fishing slave boats that don't exist anymore.....

[cumgranosalum]

The good news is the Thai fisherman had already removed all the marine life from the affected waters.

NO!

The fish stocks were depleted by tourism and the developments on the mangroves and the pollution caused by shrimp farming

[ClutchClark]

The good news is the Thai fisherman had already removed all the marine life from the affected waters.

NO!

They fish stocks were depleted by tourism andthe developments on the mangroves and the pollution caused by shrimp farming

Humor does not appear to be your strong suit, but I see our paths have converged because I agree with each of the contributing factors you identify.

Cheers

[csabo]

Yes, these 3 farangs are not disgusted paddling in the molasses.

Perhaps it is their way of taking sea baths for health, such as mud baths.

Not far no doubt from the TV expats who routinely spout off here about the wondrous Hua Hin beach and its splendor whilst bobbing amongst horse apples. That's a great cheu len for that place ...Hat Apun Maa.

[csabo]

" There is sometimes human waste floating in the water here"

While I am not a fan of Hua Hin, to be fair, down in Phuket while we don't usually see floating human waste, a wasted human floating by is not uncommon.

[ClutchClark]

" There is sometimes human waste floating in the water here"

While I am not a fan of Hua Hin, to be fair, down in Phuket while we don't usually see floating human waste, a wasted human floating by is not uncommon.

Patong, Ao Nong, Hua Hin, Samui.....

Where does everyone think the numerous hotels discharge their waste?

The water treatment plants do not have the capacity to treat all that raw sewage.

Nope, every time someone flushes a toilet it gets sent out into the very waters they spend the day swimming in.

Have a nice day ;-)

[Thian]

Don't they have a big truck who can easy clean all beaches in one day?

Or a truck and boat/jetski who together pull a big net along the shore to clean it up?

Just give the one who done it a huge fine and buy some of those trucks from that money.

10 years ago i went to Hua Hin after a big storm and it looked worse then this, also the very dangerous jellyfish were there who can be caught by a net.

Without clean/safe beaches Hua hin is doomed.

[kiwikeith]

Interesting article does not say anything about where it came from, however being an ex seaman I would say its bunker oil, heavy fuel oil, discharged from some ships bilge.

Confused here. Why would bunker fuel be in a ships bilge system?

Oil leakage from main engine and generators , oil heaters ect into the bilge builds up after a while but it's supposed to be pumped ashore while in port.

[Sparkles]

That stretch of coast has been a disgrace for years,the oil spill has just highlighted it.

When Bangkok gets flooded,like every wet season, all the crap floats down the Chao Phrao River and obviouly gets washed ashore on either side of the bay.

Add in the fishing boats that dump everything overboard,nothing will change.the "trash heroes" down south who collect rubbish from the beaches on a weekly basis easily identify

that fact ,nets ,lines , energy drinks etc etc all washed ashore as they are too lazy to have a bin on board.Subsequently they are kiling their own industry with fish etc that digest this rubbish.

Thailnd is light years behind in education about their own environment and nobody cares.

[SOTIRIOS]

...the most amazing detail is: 'Nobody is responsible....nobody is to blame'...

[ClutchClark]

That stretch of coast has been a disgrace for years,the oil spill has just highlighted it.

When Bangkok gets flooded,like every wet season, all the crap floats down the Chao Phrao River and obviouly gets washed ashore on either side of the bay.

Add in the fishing boats that dump everything overboard,nothing will change.the "trash heroes" down south who collect rubbish from the beaches on a weekly basis easily identify

that fact ,nets ,lines , energy drinks etc etc all washed ashore as they are too lazy to have a bin on board.Subsequently they are kiling their own industry with fish etc that digest this rubbish.

Thailnd is light years behind in education about their own environment and nobody cares.

"TRASH heroes"?

Could you further explain? I was in Samui and there was a farang from the US collecting large garbage bags of trash each morning for a documentary. He collected all sorts of things including hypodermic needles and syringes!

He would lay out the different items collected to film and show tourists.

There was an assortment of light bulbs found each day used and discarded by the fishing fleet including sodium halide, flourescents, etc

There were large numbers of small squarish brown Red Bull bottles.

It was both interesting and thoroughly disgusting AND the local community did not care at all. In fact, the jetski guys used to laugh at him as he walked along picking up trash. There is an obvious disconnect in the minds of the locals between the trash and the threat it creates to their livelihoods.

[Thian]

...the most amazing detail is: 'Nobody is responsible....nobody is to blame'...

There are many illegal houses above the klongs in BKK who just dump all their thrash in the water underneath their "house".

Farang get a fine of 2000 baht for dropping a cigarettebutt on the street but those people can do as they like.

[sirocco]

Have you ever seen the Thais clean the beach in Hua Hin.

I live for many years, and some periods, they are 4 or 5 in alignment, and pick just what is before them. And not every day.

The rest, they do not care.

I've seen a truck, but it was to pick up the big jellyfish, and again when it was over, there were so many.

To the sea itself, in France, we have boats that ply the waters several times a day to pick up garbage. This is called "PELICANT". And the beaches are cleaned and disinfected daily and the bins placed 100 meters apart.

The Thais have erased from their vocabulary the words "clean" and "healthy".