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Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti

Phuket Dive Industry Needs Controls, says Enviro Minister: Surin, Similans May Be Closed

Monday, January 17, 2011
NATURAL Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti has called for greater control of the diving industry and warned that destruction from coral bleaching may force the closure of large areas of the Andaman region's most precious and popular marine parks and dive sites.

The Director of Research, National Parks, Thailand, Dr Songtam Suksawang, said frequent dives on Andaman reefs had illustrated that 93.6 percent of coral at Surin, the Similans, Phi Phi, Racha and Phuket is dead.

Damage was much worse than the destruction caused by the 2004 tsunami, he said. The coral could take between five and 10 years to recover, he said, and yet there were no signs of young coral.

Khun Suwit questioned the future of a Phuket that became overdeveloped and said there was a need to make ''the beauty of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi stable forever.''

Khun Suwit and Dr Songtam were speaking today to media at the launch of the Andaman Marine Protected Areas Network at Had Sai Keaw, a far-north beach on Phuket's west coast. They watched park rangers practice sea rescues.

Khun Suwit said there was a need for talks to begin on the future of the three provinces. ''Everyone has to talk together,'' he said. ''The governors, hotels, restaurants, everyone has to begin talking.''

He acknowledged that the original tourists who visited Phuket for its natural beauty has moved on and yet for the future of its tourism, Phuket needed long-term visitors who kept returning.

''Whoever takes the money under the table, please stop,'' he said. ''Don't destroy the fish and the forests.''

Breaches of laws governing the environment would be punished, he said, no matter how senior or powerful the people involved.

Garbage and bad water at Surin Island and the Similans was creating a pollution problem, he said, caused by the popularity among divers and snorkellers. Marine life was also suffering, he said.

The dugong population, once believed to be recovering, was now declining as their rare sea grass feeding zones were polluted by coastal construction.

Turtle numbers had risen last year but were now showing signs of declining once again. Coral fish were also being sighted in fewer numbers.

''The quality of the boats and the quality of the people who bring the tourists is doubtful in some cases,'' he said. ''The income is not the primary need. If the industry is not controlled, there will be too many boats, and too many people.

''We have to save the reefs and the marine environment.''

He added that Phuket also needed to look more closely at the effects of development. ''If Phuket is covered in buildings, why would people want to come to a holiday place that is just like the place they left behind?''

Phuketwan has called for Phuket's beaches to be removed from the control of corrupt local councils and placed under the protection of a new authority, and for a single government administration to oversee the future of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi so that Phang Nga and Krabi remain natural havens as Phuket becomes a big city.

The death figures site by site on coral bleaching are: Surin Island, 99.9 percent; Thachai Island 84 percent; Surin South 85 percent; Similan Island 89.3 percent. Research divers will check the sites again on Thursday.
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Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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Divers do not cause coral bleaching, yet it was not mentioned in the report what does cause coral bleaching.

"If Phuket is covered in buildings, why would people want to come to a holiday place that is just like the place they left behind?"

I think many of the readers here have been stating this but all we (readers) have heard is that Phuket will be like Singapore in 20 years.

"Phuketwan has called for Phuket's beaches to be removed from the control of corrupt local councils and placed under the protection of a new authority, and for a single government administration to oversee the future of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi so that Phang Nga and Krabi remain natural havens as Phuket becomes a big city."

So Phang Nga and Krabi remain natural but for Phuket to become a big city, seems quite different to that of Khun Suwit.

Posted by Lee on January 17, 2011 17:29

Editor Comment:

The concern is that divers will damage the regrowth in the coral, and that the numbers of divers and the lack of controls are already damaging the environment.

Is Singapore not a city?

Do you want Khun Suwit and Phuketwan to agree on everything?

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Start by controlling the illegal fishing.

Posted by VFaye on January 17, 2011 17:40

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Please not only more buro-sclerotics. All this authorities and committees are only good for one thing: Nobody can be guilty of anything. Nobody responsible. Every time another agency or whatever is to blame.

Phuket need people who feel responsible. Structures that make people responsible but give them also the tools to make an impact.

Right now you hear only talk but nobody can do. Less talk more do maybe better.

Posted by Lena on January 17, 2011 17:43

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Blah, Blah < BLAH !
Big words and no action, lets see it happen Khun Suwit Khunkitti, NATURAL Resources and Environment Minister, only now you wake up??? Ha Ha Ha.

Posted by GrahamM on January 17, 2011 19:43

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Cast your minds back a year ago there was talk about regulating the dive industry. Cast your mind back two years there was talk about regulating the dive industry. Cast your mind back................ Its a soft target that keeps getting missed. Illegal fishing causes far more damage.

Posted by Mister ree on January 17, 2011 22:58

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The Director of Research, National Parks, Thailand, Dr Songtam Suksawang, said frequent dives on Andaman reefs had illustrated that 93.6 percent of coral at Surin, the Similans, Phi Phi, Racha and Phuket is dead" That's a very precise count. Done by whom?. The Similans and Surin have been grossly mismanaged in the name of profit for many years, both by divers and more so by illegal fishing and are a shadow of what they were 10 years ago. Why are those in charge only waking up now ???????

Posted by Soupdragon on January 17, 2011 23:38

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So divers cause global warming now? Especially foreign divers, eh! (joke)

Islands 1,2,3 have already been closed since about 2001, and Fantasea Reef, one of the best dive sites has also been closed for many years.

Two words for Khun Suwit : Fishing Boats... they don't cause sea temperatures to rise either, but if anyone can argue that diving damages marine life more than fishing, please do speak up!

Posted by Jamie on January 18, 2011 10:49

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Hi Ed,
Yes, Singapore is a city, but how many people flock to Singapore for the beaches? I think many tourists are looking for a tropical setting, palm trees, vast beaches and the such (natural havens as PW stated). If Phuket Island was to become as built up as Singapore, then it seems like only the "natural havens" visited would be Phang Nga and Krabi. To get Phuket to the stature of Singapore, doubtful.

Divers do not harm coral as much as fishing trawlers, however, that do frequent the Similans and do considerable damage with drag nets. Only my opinion, but I would think that enforcement on the fishing boats would be in order first.

Posted by Lee on January 18, 2011 13:42

Editor Comment:

I'm sure you're right. And because Phuket is inevitably going to be built up, the brakes need to go on in Phang Nga and Krabi so that they do not become satellite cities. The right kind of strategy could save the Andaman for generations . . . or see it destroyed within 10 years. Those who say ''Well, there is more space north of Khao Lak'' don't understand the needs of tourists.

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Hi Ed,
Couldn't agree with you more! Thanks.

Posted by Lee on January 18, 2011 15:10

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ed- i fail to see why anyone would want to come to a phuket that is even more overdeveloped than it already is..
tourists come here for the natural beauty of the island which is already in steady decline.. what would you suggest this 'new singapore' be used for??

Posted by another steve on January 18, 2011 22:13

Editor Comment:

There is no stopping Phuket's rapid growth now to city-island status. What's important though is that Phuket gains some focus beyond tourism. What's even more important is that the beauty of the Andaman coast is protected and preserved for future generations. That's why Phang Nga and Krabi need to stay natural. Phuket will become a vast urban area. Whether it becomes a 'Singapore' is beside the point. We've never advocated the growth of Phuket to city-island status, only made the Cassandra cry that it will inevitably happen. Give us your alternative, another steve.


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