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

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

Post by Midsman »

Went on to HH beach yesterday at Soi 75 and me and the g/f set about cleaning with a big plastic basket that was on site and a rake borrowed from the drinks vendor on Soi 75.It was slow progess but you could see where we had been at the end.The sand is holding a lot of oil, my feet and ankes were covered.

Going to give it a miss today but back tomorrow armed with some disposable gloves and binliners.

The beach was looking a lot better but somethnig needs to be done about the oil the sand is retaining
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by Nereus »

That article may explain why oil has now found its way onto beaches in Songkhla:
Again, this gunk looks like crude oil. What I cannot understand is: what do you do with crude oil, even if it is smuggled? It is of no use to anyone until it has been refined. I believe that there are 7 refineries in Thailand (Wiki), so at least one of them has to be involved, or knows that the oil is smuggled.

Refined products I can understand, especialy Diesel, as it is so widely used here. The article states that some fishing boats have been "modified" to carry "oil". Crude oil is horrible stuff! To handle it by pumps, it has to be heated, which usually involves some form of steam generator, to heat both the holding tanks, and the associated pipe system. Smaller scale systems could use electric heating, but that then requires a substantial generator, and somebody savvy enough to use it without blowing themselves up!

There is more to this than is being reported here.
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by STEVE G »

Nereus wrote:
That article may explain why oil has now found its way onto beaches in Songkhla:
Again, this gunk looks like crude oil. What I cannot understand is: what do you do with crude oil, even if it is smuggled? It is of no use to anyone until it has been refined. I believe that there are 7 refineries in Thailand (Wiki), so at least one of them has to be involved, or knows that the oil is smuggled....

There is more to this than is being reported here.
This article from a couple of years ago lists Thailand as a recipient of smuggled Nigerian crude oil, I suppose corruption is the factor when it comes to refineries:
http://globaledge.msu.edu/blog/post/157 ... -crude-oil
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

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sateeb wrote:
TicTac wrote:And the city and government seem to be doing little about tackling the problem. They should be throwing millions of baht at it. Mind you some Thais don't really know or seem to care as I saw many swimming yesterday around soi 106. I think its time to move somewhere else in the kingdom as this will take months if not years to remedy.
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Yes I do like it here but one of my main reasons for that was there was a usable beach. But not anymore. Sorry for my opinion. Easy to tell people to Ta Ta without addressing the issues.
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

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A Week Later, Authorities Clueless About Who Caused Hua Hin Oil Spill
Seven days after an oil slick washed up on the beaches of Prachuap Kiri Khan province, authorities have yet to identify anyone behind the spill.

Gov. Thawee Narisirkul told reporters today officials are still working to find out who leaked the oil on Oct. 27, which blackened a number of beaches along 10 kilometers of coast, including the popular resort town of Hua Hin.

The governor said his office has already filed criminal charges against the unidentified ship, and officials are gathering evidence about the damage caused by the oil spill from local hotels, resorts and restaurants for further criminal and civil action.

“This incident damaged the tourism sector,” Thawee said. “We have to take legal action to make an example in order to prevent this kind of incident from happening again in the future.”

Satellite images showed the 11sqm oil slick originated from a vessel or vessels near the mouths of the Mae Klong and Tha Chin rivers between Hua Hin and Bangkok. The images ruled out pipelines or platforms as the source but were too inconclusive to pin down which ship leaked the oil.

Local authorities responded by organizing a cleanup operation along the beach and declaring it open for business three days later. Thawee said today that while some tar remains on the shore, it poses no health hazard.

“It’s not dangerous,” Thawee said. “But it will stick to your body on contact, and it will be hard to wash it off.”

Pinsak Surasawadee, head of marine resources conservation, said his department is working with other agencies to determine the extent of ecological damage. Whether the effects will be long or short term depends on factors such as how fast the cleanup operation went, and where the oil slick hit, Pansak said.

“If the cleaning was fast, and if there’s no additional oil residue, within a few weeks it’ll be fine,” he said by telephone today. “The sea is also more dynamic than a mangrove forest. The latter is very vulnerable. If the oil covers it for too long, the plants will die.”

Asked whether it’s safe for humans to swim off Hua Hin, Pinsak was circumspect.

“Speaking as a bureaucrat, of course I have to say it's safe, in order to raise confidence,” he said. “But speaking as a scientist, we need to measure it first, to be sure. … However, I believe that they have completely cleaned it in this case.”

A receptionist at Baan Kang Mung hotel on Hua Hin Beach told Khaosod English by telephone that none of the hotel guests expressed any concern about the recent oil leak.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... ypecate=06
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

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buksida wrote:Local authorities responded by organizing a cleanup operation along the beach and declaring it open for business three days later. Thawee said today that while some tar remains on the shore, it poses no health hazard.

“It’s not dangerous,” Thawee said. “But it will stick to your body on contact, and it will be hard to wash it off.”
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by Bristolian »

:idea: ^^ Maybe we should have a new thread, similar to the caption contest " The Most Outrageous Official's Comment" this would be a sure fired winner, for a thread with mountains of entries every week.
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by uncle tom »

Unless the photos are deceptive, the matt colouration and thin splashes makes the oil look like a light crude rather than a heavy tar rich oil.

When the light crude of the North Sea has escaped in the past, nature has degraded it quite quickly, so hopefully the same will happen here..
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

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No swimming in sea at Pranburi due to oil slicks
Holidaymakers were told not to swim in the sea off Pranburi coast in Prachuab Khiri Khan after officials found oil particles scattering on the beach.

Although officials assured that the oil particles do not pose a health threat, Prachuab Khiri Khan governor Thavee Narissirikul took a cautious step by warning tourists and holidaymakers against swimming in the sea for 1-2 days until the situation has returned to normal.

Meanwhile, officials concerned are collecting information about tankers which left Samut Sakhon, Petchaburi and Prachuab Khiri Khan in October in an effort to find out the culprit or culprits which illegally discharged oil into the sea.

Specimens of the oil slicks have been sent to an overseas laboratory to determine the exact type of the oil which could help trace the culprits.

It was reported that small patches of thick black oil have been washed ashore in Hua Sai district of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Singha Nakhon district of Songkhla.

Villagers of the two district suspected that the oil slicks came from an oil rig in the Gulf.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/no-swi ... oil-slicks
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by lomuamart »

I've returned from my first beach walk since the oil "crisis".
Firstly, I could only get halfway to Khao Takieb from the centre of town due to high tides so I can only comment on the stretch of beach from The Centara to Chiva Som.
There's a fair amount of debris that washed up because of high seas but there was no evidence of any oil that I noticed.
However, once I'd finished the walk, I checked my feet and I have picked up a little oil. It's really not bad and has mostly washed off in the shower.
So, as others have pointed out, there's probably an amount of oil under the surface of the sand. There were plenty of people in the sea but I don't venture in there so can't comment on any oil that may or may not still be out at sea.
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by Big Boy »

I ventured onto the beach on the South side of Takiab this afternoon. Tide was about midway. I walked down to the water's edge, and along the shore a few hundred yards. Checked my feet/shoes when I got off the beach - no oil whatsoever. Looks as though I'll be able to return with my dogs soon :D
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by Midsman »

I went from Soi 75 HH beach going South yesterday armed with disposalable gloves and binliners picking up anything that was coated in oil, and there was still an abundance of plastic bags etc covered in oil.

The Thais seem to think the beach is ok now.I still had to scrub my feet when I got home.

Been a ride to Pak Nam Pran today stopping at all the beaches on the way to Dolphin Bay and all the beaches have oil evident on stuff washed ashore.Dolphin Bay gets really bad the more South you go.

Hopefully nature and the tides will dilute it naturally
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by Big Boy »

Thanks Midsman, I really appreciate your updates. Sounds as if it will be a few more weeks yet before my dogs get to return for their nightly walk. I was going to do the Soi 75, South walk myself tomorrow, just to check - I won't bother yet.
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

Post by Bluesky »

Returned to the beach about 5pm this afternoon accessing it from the soi behind cicada to take the duster (dog) for its daily walk. The beach was much cleaner than two days previously with only a few small oil spots noted on the sand. Most of the oil soaked debris had been removed with the only visible sign being on the rock retaining walls travelled north for about 1k. Noticed there was still areas of debris. Returned back and had only a few small discoloured spots on the soles of my sneakers.
Dogs paws were pretty clean and rinsed off ok with a fresh water.
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Re: Oil Slick puts Hua Hin Beach at it's dirtiest ever ?

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Recent oil spill 10 times larger than one in 2013
THE LATEST oil spill in Prachuap Khirikhan's Hua Hin district and nearby areas has affected a larger area than the spill that hit Rayong's Koh Samet in 2013, causing incalculable damage to marine ecology.

The Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute said that oil spills happen often in Thai seawaters, as 13 were reported between September 2014 and last month. Seven of the oil spills occurred in Rayong, where a major industrial port is situated.

Institute director Pinsak Suraswadi said the affected area from the oil spill this time was more than 100 square kilometres.

It is 10 times larger than the severe oil spill in Rayong in 2013, which covered around 11 square kilometres.

"The winds and currents are the main factors that spread the oil over a wide area, but luckily the amount of oil spilled was not as much as in the Rayong incident," he said.

However, he said the ecological impact of the oil spill was certain, as the oil contaminated both the sandy beaches and the mangrove forest ecosystem of the inner Gulf of Thailand, an important breeding and nourishing place for marine life.

"It is very hard to calculate the damage to the ecosystem because we cannot accurately estimate the cost of ecological service that the healthy ecosystem provides. We cannot evaluate the ability of the sandy-beach ecosystem to provide a breeding site, or the importance of mangrove forests as nurseries for marine animals," he explained.

On the bright side, he said the Bryde's whale population living in the area was not directly affected and there was still no uncommon or mass death of marine life.

"The whales are intelligent and quick. They can sense the pollution in the sea and avoid the oil-spill area.

"However, as we still do not know which type of oil leaked, we cannot pinpoint whether there is any chemical contamination of the ecosystem," Pinsak said.

"What we can do now is to clean up the oil slick as soon as possible."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nationa ... 72382.html
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