The mass clean-up, involving more than 300 people, came after a direct order from Governor Norraphat Plodthong, Sirinath National Park Chief Witoon Dechpramualpol confirmed to The Phuket News.
The order followed local residents turning to Facebook to express their disgust at the state of the beach near the end of runway at Phuket International Airport, which is within Sirinath National Park and a popular area where tourists take photos as large aircraft fly low overhead while landing. (See story here.)
“Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong yesterday urged me to clear rubbish from this area along Nai Yang Beach, so we joined with staff from Phuket International Airport and officers from Mai Khao Municipality to hold a clean-up this morning,” Chief Witoon said.
“We collected about three tons of rubbish from along the beach. Most of the rubbish came the ocean and was washed up on the beach,” he added.
However, Chief Witoon made no mention of what action would be taken to prevent people from dumping piles of garbage in the area.
“Next, we will hold meeting with Phuket International Airport to set up security guards to block people from entering this zone, which is the airport has declared off limits for safety (see story here),” he said.
“Too many people have been in the restricted area taking photos this week already,” he added.
Meanwhile, Airport General Manager Phet Chan-charoen today announced a new a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project by Airports of Thailand (AoT), which operates Phuket International Airport, to keep the beach clean.
“The objective of this project is to keep the beach clean and beautiful, from the runway to Sirinath National Park, for the good image of Phuket,” Mr Phet said.
The quick reaction to reports of unsighlty rubbish strewn along one of Phuket's popular tourist beaches follows the highly publicised launch of the "Keep Phuket Clean With Our Hands And Our Hearts" campaign in April.
The campaign holds government agencies responsible for keeping their respective areas clean and aims to have all public areas free of litter – and illegal dumping – by the end of 2017. (See story here.)