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.