Officers led by Suphasit Boonpeinphol from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre collected the samples of sea water, and seaweed strewn along the sand, yesterday of (Mar 25).
Samples were collected from three locations: at the Pakbang Canal outflow at the southern end of the beach; near the Police Box at the end of Bangla Rd; and at Loma Park
“We were told that there have been dark brown patches of water along the beach since March 21,” said Mr Suphasit.
“Spot checks conducted with handheld devices showed that the water is normal, but we will test it again in the laboratory to check for the presence of plankton and for other elements, such as pollution and toxic substances,” he said.
“The water colour today (Mar 25) is still brown, but according to people along the beach, it is lighter than two days ago,” Mr Suphasit added.
“Jet-ski operators reported that the water colour is lighter in the morning, but gets darker each afternoon,” Mr Suphasit said.
“They said the skin rashes are probably caused by wastewater released into sea rather than the sea water itself,” he added.