The algae had washed ashore from an ‘algae bloom’, reported NBT Phuket.
The incident has yet to be publicly recognised by Patong Municipality.
The key aim of the cleanup was to “restore the beauty of Patong Beach”, said the report. “If left for a long time, it will create a bad smell and will also affect the beautiful image of the beach.”
The NBT report, remarkably, admitted that algae blooms returned to Patong Beach ‒ by far Phuket’s most popular tourist beach ‒ around the end of January and continued through March each year.
However, the algae bloom had returned earlier than usual this year, the report noted.
“More than one tonne of ‘seaweed’ can be collected each day, and the maximum collected this time is three tonnes,” the report said.
The physical characteristics of Patong Bay, which has a deep concave shape, causes water from Pak Bang Canal, which empties into Patong Bay at the southern end of the beach, at this time of year to flow slowly into the bay, the report explained.
The lack of strong wind and waves experienced all through the southwest monsoon leaves the water from the Pak Bang Canal to mix with the beach water, which tourists swim in.
“When finding the right sunlight, it causes abnormal algae growth, and there is too much to be eliminated naturally,” the report said.
Not mentioned in the report was the level of pollution and the volume of untreated wastewater that continues to flow into Patong Bay from the Pak Bang Canal, which meanders throughout the length of Patong before emptying into the bay.
The Pollution Control Department’s Environment and Pollution Office 15 (EPO15) no longer publicly releases its latest data on coastal water quality for Phuket, of which four water-quality monitoring stations are in Patong.
The four stations are: Pkml0 Station, in front of the Patong Merlin; Pkph0 Station, in front of the Patong Beach Hotel; Pkby0 Station, in front of the B-Lay Tong Beach Resort; and Pkpb5 Station, in front of the Patong Bay Hotel.
The agency’s most recent reports say only that the water quality is “fair” or “good”.
EPO15 also no longer publishes its ‘Source of Pollution Report’. The most recent source of pollution report posted shows a generalised graph marking data from 2021.
Likewise, EPO15 also no longer reports its latest information for its ‘Community Wastewater Treatment Plant Report’. For this, the agency reports annual and seasonal averages only, for years past.
During a visit to Phuket in September, Dr Surasee Kittimonthon, Secretary-General of the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR), revealed that Phuket releases nearly 55,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater per day.
The Patong Municipality Wastewater Treatment plant currently can treat up to 39,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day. Further expansion would require a high budget, Dr Surasee was told.
During his visit, Dr Surasee saw firsthand dark untreated wastewater flowing into the Pak Bang Canal and emptying into the beach water, and he saw tourists playing in that water.