Tourists join the clean up of Phuket beaches
An ongoing mass beach clean-up underway along Phuket’s west coast is expected to collect literally a ton of garbage and debris dumped on the beaches by the recent heavy weather, the chief of Phuket’s Sirinath National Park has revealed.
The mass clean-up was organised in response to the deluge of waste washed ashore by the strong wind and waves over the past week, Park Chief Natthawat Nuisriram told The Phuket News.
“Lots of trash has been picked up along the west coast of Phuket since the cleanup began on Saturday (Aug 3),” Chief Natthawat said.
“We found lots of trash on Nai Yang Beach, Sai Kaew Beach and Mai Khao Beach after the heavy weather along the Andaman coast last weekend,” he added.
National park officers teamed up with students, hotel staff, tourists and other volunteers to clean up Sai Kaew Beach on Saturday, where 197kg of trash was collected, he said.
A further 98kg of beach rubbish and debris was collected at Sai Kaew Beach by park officers, Angsana Hotel staff and other volunteers on Sunday, he added.
“We went back to Sai Keaw Beach yesterday (Aug 5), and collected another 204kg of trash,” Chief Natthawat said.
With 499kg of trash collected at Sai Kaew Beach in just three days, Chief Natthawat said he expected the total garbage and debris to be collected to reach 1,000kg.
“Another group of park officers joined together with local volunteers, staff from the Proud Phuket Hotel as well as tourists and a local conservation group to clean up Nai Yang Beach on Sunday, and a Cherng Talay bicycling group and other volunteers joined together to pick up trash at Layan Beach on the same day,” Chief Natthawat said.
“But we haven’t had the trash collected at those beaches weighed. I estimate that the total trash collected from the three beaches from Saturday though to today (Aug 6) would reach up to 1,000kg,” he added.
Park officers with volunteers will continue their clean-up at Sai Kaew Beach tomorrow (Aug 7), Chief Natthawat said.
“And at Nai Yang Beach on Thursday and Friday, starting at 9 am,” he added.
“Anyone interested in joining us can call the Sirinat National Park office for details on 076-328226,” he said.
