On April 25, the sea off Ban Bang Thao in Phuket’s Thalang district turned from emerald green to black, causing tourists to flee the beach.
Needless to say, this has the potential to spell doom for the resort province that depends so heavily on tourism.
It’s the second time in a month that the Bang Thao waters have become heavily polluted.
The first was reported during the Songkran period, when blackened water was seen from the shoreline stretching many metres out to sea.
That’s more than enough to ruin the reputation of the primary industry of this Andaman Sea tourism mecca.
The pollution prompted an investigation by local authorities, who initially pinned the blame on some of the hotels which line the beach. They also cast suspicion on other tourism-related businesses in the area.
There are two large hotels on the beach which are required to have in-house wastewater treatment facilities and, according to unconfirmed reports, the facilities at one of the hotels might have broken down or may not be working properly.
However, the area also houses some 10 smaller resorts that the law allows to operate without any water treatment facilities due to their size.
An initial investigation showed that a canal which connects to Bang Thao bay serves effectively as an open sewer, receiving wastewater from surrounding communities. Local authorities admitted the area still lacks a wastewater treatment plant.
The Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Office, which has jurisdiction over the area, has been allocated funds to build water treatment facilities.
But construction has been delayed for unknown reasons and it is expected to take another two to three years to complete.
Needless to say, without wastewater treatment facilities, pollution will only continue to pour into Bang Thao bay.
This is not an isolated case. Not far away, Phuket’s Kamala beach experienced the same problem at almost the same time.
Residents of the island’s Muang district have also complained of a polluted canal that receives fetid fluids from sewer pipes — much the same problem as in Bang Thao.
This water pollution adds to a long list of crises that have plagued this province for years, if not decades, including mafia operating local transportation and other businesses and problems relating to the island’s fast-paced development.
Complaints against water pollution are loud and clear, but a solution is nowhere in sight. While the problems are growing increasingly serious, state mechanisms have proved irritatingly clumsy and inefficient.
When the first wave of pollution hit Bang Thao during Songkran, Phuket governor Maitree Intusut ordered local authorities to fix the problem in two weeks.
The best local authorities could do was to offer a knee-jerk reaction, throwing effective micro-organism (EM) balls into the polluted sea. This proved futile, because EM balls are useless in salt water.
Officials from the local environmental office conducted tests of the foul-smelling water and delivered results that offered no surprises; the sea water was still badly polluted. The second wave of black filth on April 25 served as a slap in the face for the governor.
Media reports prove that water pollution is not a new problem in Bang Thao, since the ocean there has long been at the receiving end of the dirty canal.
Normally, tides carry the filthy water away from the tourist beach and out to sea, into the realm of fishermen. But due to weak tides this month, the dirty water has lingered longer close to shore, making the pollution more visible.
It’s incomprehensible that Bang Thao could have operated as a fully-developed resort site for years while still lacking adequate wastewater treatment facilities.
How can filthy water from the canal be allowed to flow freely into the sea?
For years, the greed of businessmen and the inefficiency, not to mention corruption, on the part of state agencies has been unbridled.
Weak law enforcement has also had a role to play in placing the tourism reputation of Phuket, the province dubbed the “Pearl of Andaman”, in jeopardy.
Because the construction of Cherng Talay water treatment plant has been delayed, we realise there is no quick-yet-sustainable solution to the pollution of the Bang Thao sea.
But if the situation is allowed to continue unchecked, Bang Thao and indeed Phuket will cease to exist on the world tourism map.