Latest beach index has been released. This is done every year and is based on biannual quality evaluation of 167 sample stations.

Beaches are scored from 0 to 100 into 5 categories: Very Poor, Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent. There was some improvement from earlier years, 11 Excellent beaches this year, none last year.

Selected results for Eastern Coast, Gulf of Thailand:

Excellent:

Rayong Estuary

Koh Samet (Pai Bay)

Mae Pin Cape

Koh Sichang

Samesaen

Good:

Koh Chang (Klong Prao, White Sand, Salakphet Bay, Bang Bao Bay,Laem Ngob Pier)

Koh Samet (Tub Tim, Prao)

Laem Chabang

Pattaya (Varuna Yacht Club, North Pattaya, South Pattaya, Jomtien)

Fair:

Koh Chang (Kai Bae Beach)

Naklua Market

Poor:

Koh Samet (Na Dan Pier)

Sattahip Pier

Very Poor:

Only one of the 167 rated very poor, Prachuap Khiri Khan Estuary.

Full report with info on air, noise, ground water and other pollution can be downloaded from:

http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Pollution%20Report-Eng.pdf?CFID=3051211&CFTOKEN=47008586

Good

Pattaya (Varuna Yacht Club,North Pattaya,South Pattaya,Jomtien) they are joking..............surely

really? the data comes from actual sample stations? bacteria counts? .

Thanks

Edited May 3, 201610 yr by gk10002000

Since the sea water at Varuna is basically the same as the dirty sea water around the corner at Sugar Beach I find this report hard to credit.

I agree that results may look too good but find no reason to not believe them. The water may LOOK bad along the beaches but the actual contents of the water seem to test OK.

They do test for just about everything including various toxins and bacteria. The results are based on only two tests done every year in Feb/April and again June/August. It’s very possible that you can get very different results at certain conditions like when heavy rain flush all the drains out in the sea.

As for Varuna Yacht Club, north Pattaya and Jontien the samples were collected 100m off the beach. The samples for south Pattaya were collected 10m off the beach.

The only beach in the Eastern gulf where they found high levels of bacteria was at Kai Bae beach on koh Chang.

The Very Poor rating for Prachuap Khiri Khan Estuary was due to heavy metals.

In any case the water around Pattaya has been testing OK for the last 15 years, since most systems were connected to the waste water treatment plant. Before that it was a cesspool with bacteria.

Bugger. I'm booked in at Kai Bae in two weeks. Can't be worse than Pattaya or Jomtien. This has be supplied by TAT.

Dead fish floating around, along with various plastics etc. The only time I get off my deckchair and brave the water, is to take a piss. Thereby improving the wayer quality.

Edited May 4, 201610 yr by Goanna

I don't know the chemical composition of the water in Pattaya and Pattaya surrounding areas, but, judging

by all the shit (yes, literally shit) in the water, including bad smell and dead fish, I do not understand how

anybody could rate it as "good" ....

An independent survey is needed.

I can't afford to do it, but Pattaya is full of rich guys.

I would love it if the Thai visa web site refuses to publish a survey that says that the water off Pattaya beach is extremely dirty.

Maybe they could explain why my swimming shorts got stained by crude oil when playing with my kids on the beach by the Rayong Marriot?

No amount of machine washing has shifted the black stains

I don't know the chemical composition of the water in Pattaya and Pattaya surrounding areas, but, judging

by all the shit (yes, literally shit) in the water, including bad smell and dead fish, I do not understand how

anybody could rate it as "good" ....

yes I was at Bali Hai lighthouse yesterday morning and the smell of sewage there was absolutely overwhelming and you could see a wide brown strip hugging the shoreline

Yes - Indigenous facts and figures.....we all know TAT.

In my homeland of Scotland we have what is called the Public Analyst. Most big towns have them.

If you have a water sample say from a private well or water supply in a rural area. You take the samples to them and for free they will test them.

Also, I had an invasion of New Zealand flat worms in my garden and took the blighters along in a jar for actual confirmation.

They could also identify invasive plants and the like.

The next time I go back to Bonny Scotland I might take a few small samples of Jomtien / Pattaya beach water and also I think water from the tap in my condo and a few other buildings I would have access to.

There is a problem posting the results...the current gov might take me away to one of their nice army camps......

Perhaps the water is just not as cynical as we are?

Yes - Indigenous facts and figures.....we all know TAT.

In my homeland of Scotland we have what is called the Public Analyst. Most big towns have them.

If you have a water sample say from a private well or water supply in a rural area. You take the samples to them and for free they will test them.

Also, I had an invasion of New Zealand flat worms in my garden and took the blighters along in a jar for actual confirmation.

They could also identify invasive plants and the like.

The next time I go back to Bonny Scotland I might take a few small samples of Jomtien / Pattaya beach water and also I think water from the tap in my condo and a few other buildings I would have access to.

There is a problem posting the results...the current gov might take me away to one of their nice army camps......

Airline might not let you on because of transporting hazardous chemicals (the water samples)