Around polluted sites, the high levels of nutrients and suspended
solids during the wet season are maintained during the
dry season, so the pressure is incessant, leaving coral communities
no time for recovery. This probably explains the poorer biological
characteristics of more polluted sites and locations. However, at
Mae Yai and Suthep Bays (Surin), which were predicted to be
unpolluted because of the absence of sewage outfalls, relatively
high levels of nutrients and sediment loads were recorded