A huge pile of garbage is being cleared from an island and at sea after it has been found floating in the Gulf of Thailand.
Volunteers of the Siam Marine Rehabilitation Foundation, resort workers on Koh Talu, local people and officials of Pa Klang Ao Forest Park have collected the trash washed up on the beaches in Bang Saphan Noi district of Prachuap Khiri Khan since Sunday.
Park officials and fishermen, meanwhile, have taken another pile from the sea back to the mainland.
"Most of them were taken away from the beaches," foundation secretary-general Phaopipat Charoenpak told the Bangkok Post on Tuesday.
"We continue to collect the rest and the situation is much better now," he added.
The floating debris of about one kilometre long was seen at moving towards the island on Sunday. It included water bottles, food foam boxes and plastic bags.
The Marine and Coastal Resources Department despatched speed boats on the same day to the location after being alerted about the trash.
The department estimated the weight of the garbage at no less than 200 kilogrammes.
Department director-general Suthiluck Raviwan said on Monday that the garbage could flow into the sea from the mainland after heavy rainfall in Bang Saphan Noi and other neighbouring districts last week.
The garbage island found on Sunday was the second big floating black of trash detected in the province since February.
"The size of the debris found on Sunday could not match the previous one," Mr Phaopitat said.
Garbage is normally seen in the sea after downpours in the district, he said. "It is always found in the sea after rain on the mainland," he added.
Koh Talu in Prachuap Khiri Khan is popular for snorkellers and divers watching coral reefs underwater.
Cleaning up a beach on Koh Talu in Bang Saphan Noi district, Prachuap Khiri Khan. (Video from Siam Marine Rehabilitation Foundation)