PHUKET: THIS is the outlet where polluted fluid spills onto Phuket's Karon beach whenever the municipal treatment plant cannot cope with the amount of waste water - and all indications are that spillages happen far too often.

When polluted fluids are being discharged onto this popular Phuket holiday beach, tourists and residents swimming at Karon beach get no warning.

The outlet gate and its surroundings, freshly painted before yesterday's visit by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and about 15 Thai media representatives, carries no sign telling people of the health risk posed by the overflow into the sea.

Local authorities admitted yesterday that there are times when the Karon system cannot cope, and polluted waste water flows across the wonderful white and squeaky Karon beach sand to mingle with the salt water.

How often does this happen? Officials say this is difficult to determine - worryingly, precise records are apparently not kept.

But one official did admit that overflows occur after most heavy downpours. And downpours come frequently at some times of the year on Phuket.

The scale of this island water pollution problem seems local but the impact is likely to be international unless the issue is resolved speedily.

A German television station is planning to screen a segment or two on Phuket that will highlight the pollution. Local officials have been slow to heed warnings that a solution must be found, and quickly.

Based on what Phuketwan has been able to find out, the producers behind Wir Retten Ihren Urlaub!'' (We Save Your Holiday!) are renown as the ''terriers of travel television.'' Once they bite, they will not let go of the issue.

The German production team pursued a similar problem in Turkey time and time again, until after several years, rather than have Turkey continue to lose tourists because of the show, the authorities actually fixed the pollution problem.

Danger to tourism on Phuket from this kind of bad publicity across Europe and Russia is evident to some, but not to all.

Honesty and transparency are what tourists everywhere are demanding these days. But on Phuket, these two 21st century essentials are difficult to deliver.

An official at the plant yesterday said that Karon's big hotels abide by regulations and treat their own waste before it flows into Karon's communal system. But the official estimated that about 200 hotels in Karon are unregistered, so they do not follow the rules and do not treat their waste.

According to sources who have seen part of the German footage, faecal matter was found in the water off Karon when the seawater failed the producers' health tests - and their samples were not taken after a downpour.

Local authorities only test the quality of water at Phuket's beaches every three months. According to Phuket residents who have contacted Phuketwan from time to time, the issue of waste discharge into the sea also affects other Phuket beaches.

Karon officials blamed the initial problem on a power failure, which led to an unintended discharge of polluted waste water across Karon beach and into the sea. They say the electricity supply has been rerouted, so there should be no more power failures.

Now they need to turn their attention to making sure the waste water system does not overflow.

German television's ''travel terriers'' are expected to return to Karon and Phuket early next month.

What they are told and how the water tests compare with international standards will tell us whether Phuket's tourism future remains appallingly murky - or crystal clear.