A "BIG CLEAN-UP" operation with 500 officials and members of the public was launched yesterday morning after the beach in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district was hit by an oil slick.
As of press time, the Mineral Fuels Department was investigating the origin of the oil.
The slick began washing up along the 10-kilometre stretch of Hua Hin, starting from Khao Takieab beach to the Hua Hin Fishing Pier, since Tuesday evening. With the sand and seawater covered with foul-smelling black oil and garbage, the authorities warned tourists to stay out of the water and away from the beach until it was cleaned.
Apart from dispatching Navy officers to help with the clean up, the Naval Area Command also conducted an aerial survey yesterday and found a three-nautical-mile strip of oil drifting about a mile off the coast and looks poised to hit the shore soon. Command chief Vice Admiral Rangsarit Sattayanukul said the oil slick might stem from oil released by a commercial vessel.
Hua Hin Mayor Nopporn Wuttikul said the Hua Hin Municipality-led cleaning operation managed to clean the entire beach by the afternoon, as the amount of oil leaked was not very much.
Police complaint
However, Prachuap Khiri Khan governor Thawee Narisirkul, who also joined the "big clean-up" event, said that if no more oil washed ashore in the next day or two, people would be allowed to go into the sea again. Following the governor's instructions, the Hua Hin mayor later filed a complaint, so those behind the oil leak are punished.
So far though, the source of the oil slick remains unknown, and Veerasak Pungrassamee, acting director of the Mineral Fuels Department, said a team from SGS Thailand has been dispatched to collect samples for testing in a bid to work out the mystery.
"The oil slick samples from Hua Hin will be carefully compared with the oil from the Gulf of Thailand to determine whether it came from an oil rig in the area. It will take four to six weeks for the test results to be released," he added.
Veerasak added that the department has already checked on petroleum production, exploration and transportation operations in the Gulf and not found any oil leakage during that time.
As for the ecological impact, marine ecology expert Thon Thamrongnawasawat who also monitored the clean-up operation said only marine animals that live on the beach such as ghost crabs would be directly affected.
"I can see that only a small amount of the oil was on the beach, so it has not really had a significant impact on the marine ecology. However, some of the oil may seep into deeper layers of the sand and may have a greater environmental impact," Thon said.
A "BIG CLEAN-UP" operation with 500 officials and members of the public was launched yesterday morning after the beach in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district was hit by an oil slick.As of press time, the Mineral Fuels Department was investigating the origin of the oil. The slick began washing up along the 10-kilometre stretch of Hua Hin, starting from Khao Takieab beach to the Hua Hin Fishing Pier, since Tuesday evening. With the sand and seawater covered with foul-smelling black oil and garbage, the authorities warned tourists to stay out of the water and away from the beach until it was cleaned. Apart from dispatching Navy officers to help with the clean up, the Naval Area Command also conducted an aerial survey yesterday and found a three-nautical-mile strip of oil drifting about a mile off the coast and looks poised to hit the shore soon. Command chief Vice Admiral Rangsarit Sattayanukul said the oil slick might stem from oil released by a commercial vessel. Hua Hin Mayor Nopporn Wuttikul said the Hua Hin Municipality-led cleaning operation managed to clean the entire beach by the afternoon, as the amount of oil leaked was not very much. Police complaintHowever, Prachuap Khiri Khan governor Thawee Narisirkul, who also joined the "big clean-up" event, said that if no more oil washed ashore in the next day or two, people would be allowed to go into the sea again. Following the governor's instructions, the Hua Hin mayor later filed a complaint, so those behind the oil leak are punished. So far though, the source of the oil slick remains unknown, and Veerasak Pungrassamee, acting director of the Mineral Fuels Department, said a team from SGS Thailand has been dispatched to collect samples for testing in a bid to work out the mystery. "The oil slick samples from Hua Hin will be carefully compared with the oil from the Gulf of Thailand to determine whether it came from an oil rig in the area. It will take four to six weeks for the test results to be released," he added. Veerasak added that the department has already checked on petroleum production, exploration and transportation operations in the Gulf and not found any oil leakage during that time. As for the ecological impact, marine ecology expert Thon Thamrongnawasawat who also monitored the clean-up operation said only marine animals that live on the beach such as ghost crabs would be directly affected. "I can see that only a small amount of the oil was on the beach, so it has not really had a significant impact on the marine ecology. However, some of the oil may seep into deeper layers of the sand and may have a greater environmental impact," Thon said.
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