Intrepid beach cleaners head out into the storm

Gloves on and umbrella up, Phuket’s Governor Noraphat Plodthong does his bit to help clean Karon Beach

Despite the postponement of the mega Phuket Hotels Association organised beach clean today, due to the inclement weather, many Phuketians still rolled up their sleeves to make a difference on Phuket’s beaches.

The Governor and representatives from local municipalities, police and the US Embassy in Bangkok still attended an official ‘launch’ of the Phuket Hotels Association Beach Clean initiative. PHA President Anthony Lark says the event will still be going ahead and hoped to announce some new dates early next week. Phuket’s Governor Noraphat Plodthong asked all Phuketians to focus on keeping the island’s beaches in pristine condition. The short ceremony at Karon Beach was followed by a mini-clean up.

In Kata the bi-weekly Clean the Beach Boot Camp team wasn’t going to be put off by a bit of rain. Island fitness coach Krix Luther has been visiting different Phuket beaches for the past three years, every fortnight, to provide a free work-out in return for attendees helping to clean the beach. Between 30-60 locals and expats have been joining the group since it started. Today’s CBBC at Kata Beach was sponsored by Kata Sea Breeze and SIS Kata.

Up north the UWC Thailand college put on their raincoats and headed to Nai Yang beach for a clean up. With a few breaks in the weather students were able to still fill tens of huge black plastic bags full of trash they recovered from the beach.

The Phuket Hotels Association made an announcement early this morning, “Good morning, as we are experiencing even more severe weather and many hotels have cancelled the beach cleanup in their area. In the interest of safety, sadly we advise everybody that it is unrealistic to continue with the event today. Stay safe and dry, thank you for all your efforts.”

You can find out more about the work being done by the Phuket Hotels Association at their website.

Congratulations to all the people that made the effort to head out in the appalling weather to make a difference to our beautiful beaches.

PHOTOS: Jay Leshark, Knights Frank, Tim Newton