Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

[JAGfx]

I have been on Takiab for a the last few hours. When we arrived there were plenty of volunteers cleaning the beach up the hard way, with rakes and hoes. Stinking hot and humid but they have done a great job. There was a couple of municipality garbage trucks in support. No graders or anything like that. There were also quite a few hotel staff from hotels no where near the beach which was good to see. Takiab beach looks much better than it did yesterday, and considering the resources available, the locals have done a pretty good job so far...well done!

[duan]

I went down to the beach at the Sofitel late morning today after the attempted cleanup and managed about 100 metres south before turning back due to my feet being caked in oil. It's going to take a massive increase both in labour force and machinery terms in order to remedy the situation.This morning's work has merely scratched the surface. In previous years truckloads of armed forces personnel have cleaned up after the seasonal storm debris has hit the beach at this time of year and their help would be greatly appreciated on this occasion.
I feel terribly sorry for all the locals dependent on tourism hoping for a spike in tourist numbers after the downturn following the Erawan incident because any first time farang beach holidaymakers not content with hotel swimming pools will surely pack up and head elsewhere following their first visit to the beach.

[TicTac]

Well this is the nail in the coffin for Hua Hin as a beach destination. An elderly visitor at Sport Villa came back with oil all over his feet and nobody could help him. Felt really sorry for him and he trudged off to the 7/11 to find something to clean it off. IMO it is now the worst tourist beach in Thailand, even behind Pattaya. The council really needs to implement a strategy to clean the beach and keep the water not polluted.

[Terry]

Yesterday, on my drive up to Bangkok, I counted in excess of 500 (Yes 500) police lining Petchkasem Road and Rama 2 highway, spaced at about every 200 - 300m to 'guard' a speeding VIP convoy that passed me whilst I was in a petrol station filling up.

Simple question.......
Can the same number of resources be deployed to clean up this mess?

[Big Boy]

Went for lunch at the beachside restaurant in Khao Tao. The beach didn't look too bad, but you could an oily film at the head of each wave.

[Nereus]

I sincerely hope that this clown has been mis-reported.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... -oil-slick

Mr Veerasak said that iinternational navigation law allows a vessel which is more than 12 nautical miles off shore to be flushed and the used water discharged into the sea. This might be the source of the oil and oil-coated balls that washed ashore.

Marpol Convention Annex 1 applies here, and although there is a 12 mile point, the discharge still has to comply with international rules. Any discharge has to be treated, usually through an oily water seperator (OWS), and the PPM recorded in a log book. There are also areas where NO discharge is permitted.

[Nereus]

Hmm, maybe? The gunk looks like crude oil, but why would a small ship be moving it between the places reported?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/environ ... -oil-slick

Leaking tanker sought over Hua Hin oil slick

[HHTel]

Well this is the nail in the coffin for Hua Hin as a beach destination. An elderly visitor at Sport Villa came back with oil all over his feet and nobody could help him. Felt really sorry for him and he trudged off to the 7/11 to find something to clean it off. IMO it is now the worst tourist beach in Thailand, even behind Pattaya. The council really needs to implement a strategy to clean the beach and keep the water not polluted.

Steady on. The oil only hit the beaches yesterday and work has been carried out today by volunteers working their socks off in the heat. It's not going to be fixed in a day. Regarding the tourists being covered in oil, surely, the news wasn't kept quiet and the beach was closed and tourists warned not to go into the water but as seen on videos, tourists have still gone into the water despite the quite visible evidence.

I'm sure the beaches will be cleaned and anyone feeling strongly about it should volunteer themselves. I'm sure they will be appreciated.

[Khundon1975]

Well this is the nail in the coffin for Hua Hin as a beach destination. An elderly visitor at Sport Villa came back with oil all over his feet and nobody could help him. Felt really sorry for him and he trudged off to the 7/11 to find something to clean it off. IMO it is now the worst tourist beach in Thailand, even behind Pattaya. The council really needs to implement a strategy to clean the beach and keep the water not polluted.

OTT. IIMHO

Volunteers and others are very busy cleaning up the oil spill, why not join them?

These sort of spills occur all over the World, the beaches and marine life soon recover, with help from locals and the Government.
This spill is tiny in comparison to many others.
Talk of "nails in coffins" is just plain silly!

[TicTac]

Well this is the nail in the coffin for Hua Hin as a beach destination. An elderly visitor at Sport Villa came back with oil all over his feet and nobody could help him. Felt really sorry for him and he trudged off to the 7/11 to find something to clean it off. IMO it is now the worst tourist beach in Thailand, even behind Pattaya. The council really needs to implement a strategy to clean the beach and keep the water not polluted.

OTT. IIMHO

Volunteers and others are very busy cleaning up the oil spill, why not join them?

These sort of spills occur all over the World, the beaches and marine life soon recover, with help from locals and the Government.
This spill is tiny in comparison to many others.
Talk of "nails in coffins" is just plain silly!

OTT perhaps but Hua Hin as a beach destination is gone. Who wants to go for a holiday with horse crap and polluted water along with rubbish on the beach. Then throw an oil slick into the mix. We can continue to be fanciful or accept the facts. Why should farang always be responsible for problems created by you know who?

[TicTac]

Well this is the nail in the coffin for Hua Hin as a beach destination. An elderly visitor at Sport Villa came back with oil all over his feet and nobody could help him. Felt really sorry for him and he trudged off to the 7/11 to find something to clean it off. IMO it is now the worst tourist beach in Thailand, even behind Pattaya. The council really needs to implement a strategy to clean the beach and keep the water not polluted.

Steady on. The oil only hit the beaches yesterday and work has been carried out today by volunteers working their socks off in the heat. It's not going to be fixed in a day. Regarding the tourists being covered in oil, surely, the news wasn't kept quiet and the beach was closed and tourists warned not to go into the water but as seen on videos, tourists have still gone into the water despite the quite visible evidence.

I'm sure the beaches will be cleaned and anyone feeling strongly about it should volunteer themselves. I'm sure they will be appreciated.

No one was told of anything when going to the beach. I can account for that as I went down at 2:30 pm. An elderly tourist doesn't happen to be online 24/7 and even myself wasn't aware of it until getting down to the beach.

[TicTac]

Went for lunch at the beachside restaurant in Khao Tao. The beach didn't look too bad, but you could an oily film at the head of each wave.

"Not too bad, but you could see an oily film" Does this make sense?

[Big Boy]

It does to me, but we all speak different versions of English, and maybe I've used local terminology which you don't understand - tell me which bit is confusing you and I will try to explain further.

Or are you pointing out that my post had a word missing? In which case I'm sorry.

[Homer]

We had to literally boil water and scrub our feet and ankles clean when we got home.

Washing their feet had no effect, Fortunately we have some fairly heavy duty gunk remover that did the job eventually.

An elderly visitor at Sport Villa came back with oil all over his feet and nobody could help him. Felt really sorry for him and he trudged off to the 7/11 to find something to clean it off.

Rub on a lower viscosity oil such as baby oil, cooking oil or massage oil. The lighter oil quickly breaks up the heavier oil. Wipe off the mixture then finish with soap and water.

[Big Boy]

Thanks will remember if there's a next time.