8 replies to this topic

[Kirkland]

"Thailand's splendid diving spots could become a thing of the past as coral reefs, especially in the Gulf of Thailand, have been severely damaged by human activity. Andaman's corals are in better condition than those in the Gulf, the Marine and Coastal Resources Department says.

Human activity can upset the marine ecology and are considered a major cause of coral degradation. "Setting up industrial parks and city expansion activities in coastal areas are the main factors causing coral destruction," said Niphon Phongsuwan, chief of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre's marine and coastal biology and ecology unit.

The department found in a survey of 771km along the Andaman and the Gulf coastline that Satun had the most fertile reefs with 47.8% of the coral in very good condition, followed by Ranong with 25.6% and Krabi with 24.1%. All three provinces are on the Andaman coast.

The provinces with the lowest number of pristine coral reefs are all in the Gulf. Only 6.3% of coral in Chon Buri was found to be in good condition, while 14.9% in Chumphon and 19.3% in Trat was still fertile.

"While the coral numbers in the Andaman Sea are increasing by around 5% each year, no such growth has been seen in the Gulf," Mr Niphon said. In fact, the level of coral damage in the Gulf had jumped from 12.9% in 1995 to 22.4% last year.

Thailand's coral reefs cover 96,000 rai, or less than 0.001% of Thai waters. They are crucial feeding grounds for marine animals and help generate income from eco-tourism.The depletion of coral could affect the country's food security as marine products are a staple in the Thai diet.

In a bid to increase food sources for marine species, the department has created over 30 artificial reefs in the Gulf and the Andaman Sea. However, marine experts say the artificial reefs cannot help restore marine fertility as the problem needs to be tackled at its root.

"The artificial reefs may not be a sustainable way of coral rehabilitation. We need to tackle the causes of coral reef illnesses, such as water pollution, flows of sediment from the land to the sea, and destructive diving activities," said Pinsak Suraswadi, director of the marine conservation and rehabilitation division.A pilot project for sustainable management of coral will start on Koh Tao in Surat Thani, where the reefs have been badly affected by tourism."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2380...eat-from-humans

[UncleSam]

Only 6.3% of coral in Chon Buri was found to be in good condition

They must have included the fish tank in the Cope bar to get that high a number.

Hehehe.....

[Birch]

The Thais continue to destroy what remains of the environment here and the almost complete destruction of the coral in Chonburi is a prime example. I have no doubt that there won't be any significant coral left on the Gulf's east coast in another 10 years. Too many tourists and too much industry from Chonburi City to Rayong is a double whammy that will kill it all.

[Sexpat]

"Thailand's splendid diving spots could become a thing of the past as coral reefs, especially in the Gulf of Thailand, have been severely damaged by human activity.

That was a year ago.

Yesterday: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has recommended that 10 diving sites inside marine national parks be closed so damaged coral reefs can recover. . . Nipon Pongsuwan, an academic working with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, said there were nearly 100,000 rai of coral reefs in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, but almost 90 per cent of them have been ruined.

"The situation is much more severe than it was in 1991 and 1995," he said ..."The natural process of deep-sea coral reefs' rehabilitation may take up to 20 years," he added. DNP deputy director-general Thirapat Prayoonsit said his agency and officials from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry would inspect the coral reefs in the different areas before deciding which sites should be kept off-limits to tourists."We will announce the decision soon," he said.


Today: "The National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department will not close all the marine national parks along the Andaman Sea coast to save damaged coral reefs from bleaching. "Closing the marine national parks will not help the coral reefs recover from bleaching," the Department's directorgeneral Sunant Arunnopparat said. . .

"I think there is no need to close the marine national parks to relieve the damaged coral. This measure would not help too much at this time," Sunant said. "We should find other measures to reduce the impact by asking people not to disrupt nature. Closing the parks would cause a lot of impact," he added.He said prevent tourist to enter into the bleaching areas would not be proper measure to recover coral reef from bleaching. .

During a trip to survey the coral reef bleaching at these two islands, a group of foreign tourists swimming and snorkelling around Koh Hey were seen breaking and destroying live coral. "This bad behaviour was caused by the tour company which did not explain how to be a good tourist. They should explain how to dive in a fashion friendly to the coral reef," Niphon said. . .

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/20...l-30146771.html

Tourism profits always trump the environment in the Land of Smiles. No one worries that there will be no tourism when the environment is ruined.

[Harold]

Tourism profits always trump the environment in the Land of Smiles. No one worries that there will be no tourism when the environment is ruined.

Unfortunately, the Thai mentality and especially the wealthy Chinese who wield such influence here, is to let the next generations worry about the environment, we got to make money now. It's not unique to Thailand, of course, but combined with the corruption that runs from top to bottom here, it's rapidly degrading the country as a tourist attraction for upscale tourism.

[Khor tose]

Tourism profits always trump the environment in the Land of Smiles. No one worries that there will be no tourism when the environment is ruined.

It may not affect Pattaya or Bangkok as much as it does the Islands, the good beach crowd and especially Chiang Mai where over 1/2 of our tourist are backpackers. So far a real effort has been made up here to keep the parks and the trails in good condition, but the smog at certain times of the year is a killer.

[Finian]

By coincidence, the liberal website SALON has an article today called "Heaven and hell in the Phi Phi Islands" that begins this way: "A stupefyingly beautiful place ruined by throngs of young and obnoxious visitors. Get me out of here!" The article then recounts the horrors of a tropical paradise overrun by too many non-stop partying tourists from the planet Horrible, night and day.

The author finally flees Phi Phi for Phuket, which he characterizes on his arrival as "perhaps the only place on earth more disappointing than Phi Phi, with 10 times the tourists and a tenth of the natural beauty. But that's another story, and at any rate, we won't be sticking around."

I don't think the Thai tourist bureau will be reprinting this article.

http://www.salon.com/technology/ask_the_pi...slands_thailand

[B.I.G.]

It seems all hell has broken loose on the issue of closing sites to protect coral, with environmentalists claiming it's nowhere near enough to protect the reefs from being destroyed and business operators screaming that they have lost tourist business.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/22...t-30146941.html

[fargo]

The bleaching and death of coral is caused by rising water temperature, which is not directly related to too much snorkel tourism. If the temperature of the planet's oceans keeps rising, those coral will die even if tourism is ended. That's very different, however, from allowing too many tourists to roam and pick coral indiscriminately from the sea bed, which is very destructive in its own right.