Cleaning the beach?

[E.P.]

The beach is looking more like a sewer than a recreation area thanks to all the unattended horse manure. I've noticed that the cowboys have numbers. Is there any way to make them clean up their mess? It's unhealthy, aliennates tourists, and spoils the whole beach experience. Anyone interested in tourist revenue should be concerned about this. Also, the public beach access areas look like garbage dumps. Is city government involved at all in keeping the beach clean? Do other Thai cities have better management systems for their beaches? Any ideas to improve th situation?

[hhfarang]

They are supposed to clean up their own horse s..t. The owners do have numbers partly so that abuses of any kind can be reported but I don't know to whom they should be reported. I assume one could start at the tourist office on the corner of the main intersection at Petchkasem Road and Damnoern Kasem Roads (beach road). The Tourist Information Office is located there in the same building as the Tessabahn (Municipality Government Office).

[IHF]

same as the guy who cleans the pier , he brushes all the dead fish, bottles, plastic etc to the end of the pier and throws it all in, then watches it float over to the hilton beach.

great idea if he done it the other way and put it all in the bin.

Beautiful Hua hin what a joke.

[bluezephyr]

Walking on Hua Hin beach in the evening is nice, Im very wary or stepping on broken glass or cans waiting to slice ya feet.
I was told its probably more Thai people throwing their rubbish down and not the tourists, Not sure what to believe who the bigest culprit is going by the state of some places in England.

I remember taking shelter in the bar half way down the beach as it really hammered it down with rain, After it stopped we had to cross the path of one of the small avenues that lead to the beach, It was a raging torrent of sewage smelling water.

Its not as bad as white sands in Koh Chang though, In the morning the hotels have people rake up the washed up rubbish its so bad.

[hhfarang]

Third world country... one of the first steps to raising that designation to the next level is cleaning up the environment a bit,.... and reducing government corruption,.... and making decent paying jobs available for more of the poor,... and updating the infrastructure,... and better schools,... and,... and,...... and,... and,...... and,... and,...... and,... and,...

[IHF]

Education is the answer, only way to beat the poverty trap.

put all new black septic tanks in all houses--great idea

empty them every 6 months (500 baht plus)

put the waste straight into the sea.

brilliant idea.

look at all the jobs it creates, and the profit home pro etc get after they fooled us into buying one.

at least all waste water drains head downhill into the sea.

[PeteC]

Its not as bad as white sands in Koh Chang though, In the morning the hotels have people rake up the washed up rubbish its so bad.

Yes, the whole issue is like a dog chasing his tail. I just spent some days on Koh Samet and watched the resorts discharge sewage into the sea (septic tank overflow), and watched the current bring in the plastic debris from Rayong. However, the seas and beach were far better in this low, monsoon season than in the calm, high season as things get washed back out quite quickly. Generally the water was clear down 3 meters and a good amount of leg hair nibbling fish.

Koh Chang has even more going against it, floating debris from Cambodia and probably as far as VN given the currents, and ships blowing their ballast before they get into the area where the Thai Navy stops and fines them if they do it too close to port in Lam Chabang.

I've noticed less glass, cans, plastics washing in over the past years as I think now the Thai's realize they can collect and sell it, therefore less thrown into the sea. However, the big cargo ships don't care and in it goes.

Sewage is a different story. Pattaya just built their first plant about 8 years ago. I think they still have only one and need about 6. Pattaya Bay is now cleaner than any area on Jomtien beach so it's working somewhat.

The same story with Rayong, some treatment plants but not nearly enough.

HH really needs a few but since everything is up hill more or less, it's not going to be easy. Pete

[Cowtown Comedy]

I just got off the beach, walking north towards klai kangwon. I couldn't beleive how dirty it was. In 3 years this is the worst I've seen it. The water is pooling against many of the property seawalls and collecting an abundance of garbage. The beach isnt the reason I live in hua Hin, so I can turn a blind eye to it, but if i was a tourist coming here to relax in the sun, i would be completely turned off. The small sois accessing the beach were very filthy as well.

[PeteC]

One of the locals can correct me if I'm wrong, but this time of year you have extensive flooding up-country, and the Chao Praya is spitting out much more inland flood garbage than usual just north of HH.

I would think things would improve in a month of so. Someone, am I correct in that the worst problems are seasonal around this time of year? Pete

[IHF]

its gets worst in high season, more sewage, more garbage.

I have seen more farangs than Thai take there rubbish to the bin.

just like in the soi's around hua hin, most have a general bin at the end, but locals just throw the rubbish over the garden wall.

TIT.

[lomuamart]

Other than "occasional" rubbish, I think Pete has got it right. The Chao Praya spews forth enormous amounts of silt and rubbish at this time of year and unfortunately that gets carried by currents down to HH.
Although I havn't walked the beach to Khao Takiab for a long time, I was always fairly impressed with the clean up operations that the municipality carried out on a Monday, but they only around the big hotels. Two or three kilometers south of town, there's no help at all.

[Spitfire]

Think prcscct is spot on and hhf's thoughts on the third world country/what still needs to be done are about right here.

There is much to do. Infrastructure/investment is still a huge problem everywhere, not just in HH.

[Aussie Mark]

In the land down under South Australia have a good idea they charge 5 cents more for their cans and bottles but then give a 5 cent return .So you rarely see cans or bottles rubbish anywhere as most kids cash in on the empties
We also now charge at supermarkets for plastic bags.Last time I was in Hua Hin asked our driver where there was a bin his reply was just throw it on the ground I let him know that u shouldnt do such things and he just laughed.So I just laughed as well but also got a new driver

[IHF]

India has the right solution, make the cow sacred, let in roam around anywhere.

eats all the waste from the bins,roadsides etc, and fertilizes the plants at the same time.

[Pagey]

Aussie Mark : Most wholesalers do charge 5 Baht for bottles of coke, sprite etc so if it is drank at a beach bar it will be collected by the owner. However, if it is someone walking the beach or a horserider it could end up anywhere.