For anyone visiting a clean Jomtien Beach during the hot afternoon would be shocked to see the litter-strewn condition of the beachfront at sunrise.
Such was the case May 4, when long-time tourist “Uwe” went to walk on the beach and found it covered in bottles, foam containers, plastic bags and other debris. He wondered where it all came from.
The garbage, he speculated, might be from drainage pipes with no garbage filter, and connected to the sea. Or there might be “somebody threw a lot of garbage to the sea.”
In fact, the majority of garbage that washes up on Jomtien Beach nearly every day comes from Bangkok, where residents and businesses routinely throw their waste into the capital’s reeking “klongs” that lead directly into the sea. The stench of garbage and sewage is so bad, those traveling in canal boats must cover their faces.
Tidal patterns take water from the upper Gulf of Siam straight down the coast and deposit it the shores of Jomtien Beach as it juts away from the mainland.
Tidal patterns are something Uwe knows nothing of, but he hopes nonetheless some agency will inspect the source of the pollution and put an end to it.
Although beach vendors always clean the beach for tourists, they don’t finish until after 10 a.m., leaving early morning beach visitors alone to wade through the trash.
Tourists walking along Jomtien Beach in the early hours of the morning are often greeted by lines of trash that wash in overnight.
