New Thai reef is Garbage June 29, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Conservation, News , trackbackTHAILAND has dumped 189 old garbage trucks off its southern coast in a bid to build an artificial reef to lure fish for local fishermen.
The trucks, once used to collect refuse in the sprawling Thai capital Bangkok, were dropped into the Gulf of Thailand, about 5.5 km from the southern province of Pattani.
Under a project initiated by Thailand’s queen in 2002, everything from concrete pillars to old rail cars have been dumped at 47 sites in the waters off southern Thailand.
Fishery Department official Rangsan Chayakul said about 43 species of fish are now living around these artificial reefs, up from 15 species before.
“The reef will protect shallow-water fishermen from high waves and give them a good source of income,” he said.
There is no news as to whether they cleaned the trucks up first, or whether the reef is suitable for diving.
Comments»
Chances are they were dumped as-is by some quick minded scrapyard owner who ran out of space (and decided to do something “environmentally friendly” with them!)
The water around the new reef is probably boiling and toxic as who knows what
But that could just be me being cynical of course!
K.