Authorities to carry out sea trash clearance in Gulf of Thailand

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN, THAILAND, February 10 (TNA) - The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, plans to use crane equipped boats to scoop up massive garbage patches floating on the sea surface in the Gulf of Thailand off Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, caused by recent floods in the Thai South. The 10-kilometre-long garbage patches were first spotted off the coast of Chumphon Province, but they then floated northward and were latest detected by an aerial survey and satellite image to stay adrift on the sea off Thalu Island in Prachuap Khiri Khan. The department's deputy director-general, Sophon Thongdee, told journalists on Friday that dragnets were used to enclose the garbage patches before the clearance will start near a coral reef, during which small boats will surround the massive garbage and a big boat will pick up the garbage. Sophon said the garbage came from floodwater drainage when southern Thai provinces were hit by massive inundations over the past two months. According to the senior official, local authorities will bury the wastes and environmental officials will sort out the trash to see where it came from in order to plan long-term solutions. (TNA)