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PHOTO GALLERIES
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 "Phang Nga bay Clean Up 2009" on NBT News Phuket Thailand |
 Special report about Phang-Nga Bay clean-up by PSU students & environmentalist John Gray |
 VDO-Interview John Gray, pioneer of sea canoeing in Phang Nga Bay |
 "Phang Nga Bay Clean-up 2009" Capital TV - Phuket Plus |
 "World in Crisis - TV" Phuket English Channel |
 "Phang Nga Bay CleanUp 2009" watch streaming flash online or download here (3.24 MB) |
 "Clean up the bay" Gray Area - Phuket Gazette Newspaper - March 28, 2009 |
Download Phang Nga bay Clean Up 2009 (MP3 -3.36 MB) on-air FM 108 Mazz Radio Phuket (Right-Click and "Save Target As") |
I’ve always been a rubbish nut. Much as I hate rubbish on land, I find marine rubbish even more devastating. Terrestrial animals don’t die the miserable death of a whale with 25 black plastic bags of rubbish in its stomach. – or the unsuspecting turtle that gags on a “small” plastic bag, thinking it’s a jellyfish.
Even worse, marine rubbish sails the Seven Seas, often gathering in huge slicks of plastic islands. That bag or bottle dropped in Phang Nga Bay may end up in Alaska – or Antarctica.
Hosting James Bond and Koh Panyi, Phang Nga Bay is a major marine rubbish generator. It doesn’t go back to shore. Tour boats use plastic bottles and bags, and then insult the sea by tossing Styrofoam. Shrimp farms destroy mangroves – the nurseries of the sea – then allow large blocks of Styrofoam to break free and drift about the Bay. Monofilament fishing nets never stop working – I just collected one so big it almost sank my kayak.
After two decades of disregard, I became so frustrated we organized the Phang Nga Bay Clean-Up 2009. Coincidence made it 20 years in Thailand and my 64th birthday, all in one.
We planned one day/one boat for my Prince of Songkla-Phuket University students in Coastal Tourism Management. Overnight it grew to 84 students, four television crews, two radio reporters and half dozen print journalists. My B25,000 budget turned into B125,000. I solicited major hotels for sponsorship of for B25,000 (US$700) a day. The best PR buy ever, we would promote them around the Planet, including this Index page.
My University sponsored a day without solicitation. But how strange that chains with thousands of hotels, billions in assets, and huge advertising/PR campaigns broadcasting their “environmental” commitment could plead poverty. Strange how these chains couldn’t see that Phang Nga National Park is their tourism asset, the draw that brings folks to their hotels, and the rubbish dumping ground for the 2-cycle speedboats and quasi-kayaking disco/karaoke party cruises booked at their hotel tour counter.
We smiled, bit the bullet, and financed all 84 Prince of Songkla-Phuket students, another 20 tourism industry staff, a couple dozen Phuket residents, and all that media.
One week a decade only generates awareness, so we saw Phang Nga Bay Clean-Up 2009 as a seed project. . The Bay is cleaner than ever, yet sliding downhill fast. Two-cycle speedboat operators could care less about the marine environment, and they own those disco/karaoke “sea canoe” trips Without contributing a whisper, luxury hotel managers still live in mansions, drive mod cars and make outrageous commissions selling schlock marine tours.
On the up side, Summer In Phuket established an incredible beach clean-up island-wide effort, TAT licensed tour guides now receive environmental education and the streets of Phuket are almost as clean as Puerto Princesa. All good news, yet I’m still homeless. I live a simple life, and B25,000 is three months rent. Only three more months to go.
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©2005 John Gray Sea Canoe
Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. 124 Soi 1 Yaowarat Rd., Taladyai, Muang, Phuket 83000, Thailand Tel. (66-76) 254505-7 | Fax: (66-76) 226077 E-mail: info@johngray-seacanoe.com |
