The underwater cleanup was led by divers from the local expat dive business community, with many more volunteers collecting trash from the sand.
In total, 63 kilograms of rubbish was collected by a team of 12 divers taking part in the underwater cleanup alone, said Wanchalerm Hemsalamart from the Karon Municipality Health Division.
“We did not did not count the rubbish collected on land,” he added.
Rear Admiral Wuttisart Chawana, Deputy Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Area, Command presided over the opening of the event.
Also present were Karon Mayor Tawee Tongcham, local village headman, a local community ‘housewife group’, teachers, students as well as staff and representatives from local hotels and tourism businesses.
The event also saw the release of young marine life, including nine young Green Turtles, 2,500 fingerlings (young fish) and 300,000 of young Tiger prawn larvae into the sea in order to help the local marine ecosystem thrive.
Other areas were also targetted in the cleanup, with public areas and government buildings getting a cleanup makeover.