Even though I live in Khon Kaen, Thailand, I do love to go to the beaches in Thailand.  Primary reason for me going to the beach is to go metal detecting.

Thailand Coral Bleaching

Thailand Coral Bleaching

There have been numerous articles of late in both English speaking Thai online newspapers, Bangkok Post and The Nation, regarding the coral bleaching or coral whitening of some of the dive locations in Thailand.  This is nothing new.  The coral has been in this state for quite a while as I have read earlier reports of this from over a year ago.

What is new, is that Thailand is finally going to take some action – maybe.  The plan is to close off some of the dive locations and hope and pray that the coral can be restored to its original shape.  Not sure if this will happen.

From what I have read, coral bleaching is caused when the algae that lives on the coral dies off.  This can be caused by a number of reasons, but warming water is the main cause.  So, blame global warming.

I would agree that higher water temperatures are partly to blame.  But, since this is Thailand, there is usually more involved.  I would guess that tons and tons of trash deposited in the waters of Thailand daily do their part to keep the water warmer and the raw sewage that is poured into the sand and water from hotels, restaurants, and vendors on every beach in Thailand are sure to be part of the cause.

Of course, this being Thailand, fingers have to be pointed by the culprits and pointed at the innocent.  Thailand is blaming the divers that come to Thailand – the very people who do all they can to preserve the ocean and most likely were the first ones to report the deteriorating state of the coral.

This is being done to divert attention from the reports of graft in high government places where tour boat operators report getting a government discount for a boatload of people if no receipt is required.  Then, the local officials don’t have to claim this money to the higher up that would use it (hopefully) to protect the natural resources of Thailand.

They are claiming over One Billion baht which is a ton of money (divide by 30 to get dollars) in graft.  So, an investigation will be conducted, nothing will be found to pinpoint the culprits, and a few officials will get transferred to other areas and will have to find new ways to steal money.

The disappearing beach is none other than Pattaya Beach.  According to one expert, the beach at Pattaya will be gone in 5 years unless something is done.  This is attributed to changing wave patterns and tides.

The plan is to pump in sand to extend the beach approximately 10 meters further out making the beach about 20 – 30 meters wide.

I am sure that more studies will be conducted, millions of baht will be spent doing preliminary research, and the beach will further deteriorate and will require even more money to pay to fix it.  And, then, they will do it wrong instead of learning from Japan or Singapore who have already dealt with this issue successfully.  Guaranteed – they will screw it up and another story of payoffs will appear.

All I can do is sit back in my Khon Kaen house and read the sad stories and hope that the beaches are still around for me to play with my metal detector.