The Suan Luang Ror 9 Park, in Phuket Town at the northern end of Chao Fah Rd, used to be a popular place for a leisurely stroll or morning jog. Recently, however, it’s become much less popular, thanks to the increasing reek from stagnant water in some of the lake at the northern end of the park.
The stink has increased exponentially in the recent week, with fish dying from lack of oxygen in the water and floating to the surface, their decaying corpses adding to the smell.
Following complaints from people living near the lake, Mr Ruethai told The Phuket News that he will fix the problem within 10 days.
Mr Ruethai said, “I’ve known for a while about this problem. I have given the Department of Fisheries the responsibility for draining and dredging lakes in the park in about two or three days. Any fish still living will be moved to other parts of the park where there is still good quality water.
“I am new here but the geography of Phuket is similar to that of Lampang [in the north of Thailand] where I used to work. So, I plan to improve water sources in Phuket.
“The dredging of the lake will be done in 10 days. All the lakes will then be deeper and cleaner. After they have settled, I will rerelease fish into them.”
He said that there had been a similar problem with one of the ponds next to Rajabhat University. “That has now been dredged and that project is complete apart from a few details.”