Phuket’s Mai Khao Beach disgraced in social media

PHUKET: Governor Norraphat Plodthong is demanding fast action from officials in Sirinat National Park over a stream of complaints from tourists and local villagers about an accumulation of ‘huge’ amounts of trash on the beach at the threshold to the runway at Phuket International Airport.

Access to that stretch of beach is through Soi Mai Khao 4, next to the Grand West Sands Resort, where guests and local residents have been complaining loudly on social media.

The plaintiffs have been insisting that government officers take action since the area has become a popular ‘selfie spot’ for tourists wishing to be seen with airplanes landing or taking off in the background.

This has generated an ‘appalling’ amount of trash well documented in the social media posts which show the blight spreading and building rapidly over the past few weeks. Photos of the beach itself show plastic bags, straws, plastic cups, tin cans, paper, water bottles and caps, lunch boxes and miscellaneous bits of foam, rubber and glass.

“The Sirinat National Park authorities are in charge of this place and they need to take responsibility for this mess. No one from the park is doing anything about it. We try to clean it up ourselves but it’s too much to handle,” says a villager who refuses to be named.

“Then the stray dogs come for the food scraps and tear everything apart, making it a nightmare,” he adds.

— Winai Sarot