BANGKOK, Oct 27 (TNA) — Twenty Thai diving businesses and the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have joined forces in setting up a project called “Sustainable Ocean Ambassador’, aimed at eliminating garbage dumping in the Thai sea.
As Thai sea is connected with the Pacific and the Indian oceans, it is found that garbage and polluted water have affected the Thai sea, making the sea the sixth most dirties in the world.
According to Pollution Control Department, garbage floating in 23 Thai coastal provinces in 2017 amounted 11.47 million tonnes of which about 340,000 tonnes were plastic garbage.
Worse still, between 10-15 per cent of the garbage could eventually pollute the sea water.
The ‘Sustainable Ocean Ambassador’ calls for a close cooperation between the 20 diving businesses and the UN agency to check on garbage in the sea, making record and collect the garbage which would reduce it on a sustainable development in future.
Nivat Rungruangkanokkul, one of the founders of ‘Skin Dive Thailand Group’, said that garbage problem in Thailand is on the increase and over 100 marine animals die annually because of polluted water.
People eating fishery products are, of course, living in danger because they might eat polluted products, said Mr Nivat.
He said his group would educate tourists to help cleansed the seawater which would benefit the Thai sea and tourism business in future. (TNA)
