A huge ghost net damages the Ko Losin reef and balls of tar wash up on Phuket
Island Wrap #45: Travel & Environment edition for June 12-25, 2021
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This week’s Island Wrap covers one of the largest and most damaging discarded fishing nets ever found in Thailand. You’ll also learn about mysterious tar balls, rescues of drifting fishermen, a call to protect black-tip reef sharks, a beached sperm whale calf, multiple sea turtle nests, escaped crocodiles, the beauty of mangroves, exposed land grabs and a big phallus in the middle of a road.
After intending to publish an update on the Phuket Sandbox in recent days, I held off to wait for a final stamp of approval in the Royal Gazette. Once that happens, I’ll weave a mountain of research into an in-depth article for you.
If you missed it, check out the second of my two articles on tranquil Ko Bulon from last week. Stuart McDonald is back on Couchfish with stories about Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ban Krut, Bang Saphan and other sleepy beach areas along Thailand’s upper Gulf coast. He also reminds readers to “spare a thought for the little people.” Meanwhile, my partner Chin revealed what it’s like behind the scenes for a Bangkok food tour guide in an interview on The Bangkok Podcast.
Pick of the Wrap: BEACH
We recently took a break from ailing Bangkok for a spot of mainland beach hopping in the scenic Bang Saray area south of Pattaya. The highlight was Hat Sai Kaeo, a white-sand beach hidden amid coastal mountains with an outlook to Ko Phai, Ko Maniwichai and other uninhabited islands. Stay tuned for a full article on this gorgeous beach and other parts of Bang Saray, which is a good alternative to Pattaya and Bang Saen if you find those area too heavily developed.
Watery rescues
On June 13th, the crew of a Thai trawler rescued an Indonesian fisherman 30 km south of Ko Racha Noi after he’d spent nine arduous days adrift with little food or water. “The unnamed Indonesian said that the engine of his boat broke down as he was fishing in Indonesian waters, leaving him unable to navigate the vessel and letting it be swept by winds and waves further away,” reports Thai PBS World.
A day later, a marine rescue team discovered the body of a 57-year-old fisherman who sadly drowned after his small boat capsized in the Gulf near Khanom. More recently, a trawler that had gone missing for several days in the Gulf near Pattani was “found floating near Vietnamese waters with only the dead captain on board and no sign of the crew,” reports Bangkok Post. The fate of the crew is unknown.
More uplifting news came from Trang, where a 70-year-old sand pit worker survived for eight hours while pinned five meters beneath murky water with an air tube keeping him alive. Divers freed late that day in what Thairath called “a miracle.”
Officials on Ko Phra Thong are still working to free a container barge and tugboat that ran aground on the island’s west coast after a rope became tangled in a propeller during a journey from Myanmar to Malaysia earlier this month. A floating crane was deployed to remove the 39 containers loaded with rubber wood from the barge. The owner and officials hope to salvage it over the coming weeks.
Massive ghost net at Ko Losin
A team of 42 divers labored for two days to remove a 2,750 square-meter “ghost net” found to be covering most of the reef at Ko Losin, a rocky islet set 72 km off the coast of mainland Pattani in the southern Gulf. The discarded nets are thought to have been stuck on the reef for six weeks, causing much of the staghorn, hump and sheet coral to bleach while trapping crabs, sea cucumbers and other critters.
After painstakingly removing the nets, divers planted young coral polyps in some of the worst affected of the roughly 500 square meters of coral that had been bleached or otherwise damaged. Investigators are now analyzing the nets and trawlers that are registered in the area in a hunt to find those responsible for the damage. Ko Losin is one of several reef sites where trawling is banned in Thailand.
A report by Reuters includes video of the divers toiling to remove the nets by chopping them into smaller patches and then guiding them up to the surface with the help of inflated plastic sacks. Also check out the footage of a whale shark that stopped by to “cheer up” the divers who hail from the Royal Thai Navy, the Dept. of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) and volunteer groups.
Oil appears on the Andaman coast
A clean-up team removed “240 kg of tar balls and oil-smothered debris” from Nai Harn Beach on Phuket this past Tuesday, reports The Phuket News. The sticky black tar and streaks of oil first appeared on Mai Khao Beach on the northwest side of the island back on June 13th before washing up on Nai Harn in the southwest and some of the other beaches in between over the last couple of weeks.
The oil may have caused a rare sperm whale calf to beach on Bang Tao Beach on June 17th. This 4.5-meter-long whale arrived alone with a nose covered in oil and numerous scratches on its body. Some 50 people helped carry it to a truck bound for the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), where it’s now being treated.
The sticky and harmful tar balls were also found on parts of the mainland coast north of Phuket, including Thai Mueang Beach. Speculation that the oil came from the recent X-Press Pearl spill near Sri Lanka was refuted by marine scientist Dr. Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong. “We have checked the model for the tides and found that any oil spill (from the X-Press Pearl) should not affect the west coast of Thailand,” he told The Phuket News. For now, the origin of the tar balls remains a mystery.
Sea turtle news
The patient watchfulness of marine officials paid off on June 10th when 50 green sea turtle hatchlings emerged from eggs that were first laid on Phuket’s Laem Pai Beach back in April. After sandbags were placed around an enclosure to protect the nest from strong storm surges last month, the eggs were moved to the safety of the PMBC. Officials there still hope to see the remaining 33 eggs hatch soon.
Over in the Gulf, a disappointing lack of nests on Ko Samui so far this season was offset by the discovery of three green sea turtle nests on Ko Rab, a small island located south of Ko Taen in the Samui archipelago. Further north on Ko Thalu, a notably prolific mother sea turtle laid her eighth nest of the season.
Hawksbill sea turtles were recently rescued from a fishing net south of Ko Haa as well as Kata Beach on Phuket, while a green sea turtle is being treated after it was found ailing and exhausted near a mangrove forest in Chanthaburi. Sadly, an autopsy showed that plastic waste ingestion probably killed a five-year-old green sea turtle whose body washed ashore on the upper Gulf coast in Sattahip on Thursday.
A monk in Chonburi is offering a 10,000 baht reward for the return of the 70 to 80 turtles that were stolen from his temple earlier this month, reportedly by suspects who piled the reptiles into a car. “I am very saddened by this situation and want my turtles that I have raised for most of my life and were valuable members of the temple community returned,” Phra Kru Sangkarak told The Pattaya News.
Sharks, dugongs and dolphins
“The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is planning to list black-tip reef sharks as a protected marine species, after a TikTok clip of five men using a firearm to kill the sharks in Krabi came to light,” reports Bangkok Post. The incident contributed to “outrage” over the black-tip reef sharks being sold in a fish market on Phuket, even if a local fisheries chief explained that fishing for these small sharks, which are harmless to humans, is not currently against the law in Thailand.
In happier shark news, DMCR officials joined foreign divers from the Oceans For All Foundation to release 20 young bamboo sharks off Ko Maithon near Phuket. Researchers spawned the sharks as part of a push to increase the numbers of this endangered species, which recently drew attention in the Thai Gulf.
Recent drone footage shows a lone dugong wandering near the mouth of the Ban Bo Hin River in Trang province’s Sikao district, marking a fairly unusual sighting away from the primary dugong habitat at Ko Libong.
An Irrawaddy dolphin carcass sadly washed up on the coast in Trat province’s Khlong Yai, while a dead dolphin of “unknown species” was found and buried on a Ko Lanta Yai beach. Marine officials are also investigating why several bottlenose dolphins beached in Khuraburi on the northern Thai Andaman coast two days ago; one observer suspects that the mysterious oil could be to blame.
Crocodiles on the loose
Heavy rain and flooding led to the escape of “dozens of crocodiles” from a farm in Khlong Yai on June 21st. The owner joined a team of reptile rescuers to round up the crocs after locals spotted them crawling across roads. One crocodile was run over by a motorbike, requiring veterinary care. Over in Chanthaburi, footage surfaced of a three-meter king cobra devouring a smaller snake in a man’s garage.
Another video that went viral online stars an elephant popping its jumbo head into the kitchen of a house in Pala-U in search of late-night snacks. The scene inspired funny memes showing other things crashing through the kitchen wall.
Social media corner
Want to see calming photos and videos of Ko Phi Phi looking marvelous during the pandemic? Check out the Phi Phi Story page on Facebook.
(Click here to see this full set of 36 fabulous photos from Phi Phi Story.)
Food and travel
Trang: An ode to the mangrove forests — Luke Yeung for Bangkok 101:
An artistic set of shots from travel photographer Luke captures the beauty and spookiness of Trang’s natural environment, from the watery mangrove forests of Sikao to the sea caves of Hat Yong Ling and starfish on Ko Mook.
Following in the footsteps of the great poet — Karnjana Karnjanatawe for Bangkok Post:
Take a virtual trip to Khlaeng district on the eastern Gulf coast to learn about Sunthorn Phu, an iconic 19th-century writer whose nirat travel poetry and imaginative tales continue to inspire people today.
Thung Sam Roi Yot: The beautiful natural path of Prachuap Khiri Khan — Sanook (Thai language):
Here’s more evidence of why the wetlands rimmed by vertical karst cliffs are worth a side trip in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.
Krabi, Thailand: What to see and do — Go Get Maya:
An insightful guide written by a resident of Krabi province.
Exploring Phi Phi: Loh Samah Bay and Maya Bay — Deer is Travelling:
Check out the “backside bay” where all visitors will disembark for a walk across Ko Phi Phi Leh when Ao Maya reopens to tourists in the future.
Video corner
With Phuket scheduled to reopen to inbound tourists without quarantine in only a few more days, take a look at how magnificent this “Pearl of the South” has appeared during the pandemic via this island-tour video by Willy Thuan:
In other news
Layan Beach encroachers given seven days eviction notice — The Phuket News:
Local authorities on Phuket “served official notices of eviction to 15 people occupying some 178 rai of land, including the well-known Tony’s Restaurant at Layan Beach, on Monday June 21st.”
Ex-prosecutors face bribe charge in Phuket case — Bangkok Post:
The charges stem from a 10 million-baht bribe allegedly accepted in exchange for not prosecuting an illegal land grab in Sirinat National Park in 2019.
Rayong’s hazmat processing company demanded 1.3 billion baht for environmental damage — Thai PBS World:
In what appears to be a victory for local environmental activists, the Pollution Control Dept. is demanding that Win Process cough up the hefty fine within 15 days to avoid legal action due to damage the company caused over the past decade.
Villagers in Krabi are protesting requests for mineral prospecting by private companies — 77Kaoded (Thai language):
The activist group from Ao Luek Noi is concerned about negative impacts to health and the environment, as well as potential damage to archaeological sites that include many ancient paintings dotting the area’s limestone caves.
TAO’s solar lamps spend under fire — Sutthiwit Chayutworakan for Bangkok Post:
Officials in Samut Prakan are accused of wastefulness and possible corruption over the procurement of 6,773 gilded lamp posts at a cost of 642 million baht (more than $20 million USD). Some were erected alongside overgrown dirt tracks, leaving locals who are struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic up in arms. The controversy prompted calls for investigations into pricey lamp posts in several other areas, including Nakhon Si Thammarat, Hat Yai and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Local villagers from Chachoengsao build enormous phallus for rain-making ceremony — Nop Meechukhun for The Pattaya News:
Farmers were thrilled when long-awaited and much-needed rain arrived soon after they finished building a two-meter-tall depiction of a penis and testicles in the middle of a dead-end road. The saga continued when a large crack appeared in the structure, provoking local farmers to secure their sacred rain-making phallus by wrapping it up in rope and plastic. That looks like some hard work. 🌴
If you’ve been enjoying Thai Island Times, please help to keep it alive by making a $5 USD monthly contribution if you’re able. If you’d prefer to make a one-time donation in any amount, you can do so here. For a Thai bank transfer, please get in touch.