Marine scientists have urged state authorities to set up a working committee to oversee “sea walking” businesses at Pattaya’s Koh Larn and Phuket’s Koh Hey following a report that it is killing coral, the key source for marine life.

Kasetsart University marine scientist Dr Thorn Thamrongna-wasawadi said sea walking, where tourists pay money to put on diving gear and walk the seabed, needs regulating as the operators were conducting business with little regard to the deadly destruction they were causing.

Coral are very fragile and take a long time to grow. Once damaged, the world it supports dies as it cannot grow back quickly. Coral reefs provide food for sea animals and vital breeding grounds for fish.

“After permission from the tourism authority was given to the operators, no one bothered to monitor what they are doing under the water,” Dr Thorn said.

Sea walking took off about five years ago and is available only at Koh Larn and Koh Hey. The Marine National Parks forbid it for environmental reasons.

Tourists each pay Bt1,500 to go on the tours. After donning diving gear, they walk along the seabed by following a handrail.

Concern about sea walking arose after a commentary by a tourist

was put on a website called Taleythai.com. The observer wrote she had witnessed a sea walking guide at Koh Larn damaging corals and sea animals to entertain tourists.

She said she was shocked by the guide who fed bread to fish and put them in plastic bags for tourists to take home.

The guide also struck sea urchins, urged tourists to touch giant clams and hold sea anemones as they posed for photographs.

Why was such damage allowed, she asked. “Let’s think how many sea animals are killed a day,” she added.

Thongchai Sungwanna, vice chief of Koh Larn Community and owner of Koh Larn Resort, confirmed the observation.

He said many sea walking companies remove coral to make pathways for the walk.

“Ten companies did it in 10 different spots. If no authorities come to stop it, there will be no coral left,” he warned.

Dr Thorn said corals was affected by sand stirred by humans walking on the seabed. Feeding fish and moving coral also harmed the natural environment.

He said the working committee should employ marine experts to make rules and zone areas for sea walking. Also, officials should patrol underwater everyday and the cost of this should be paid by the companies.

Since the complaint, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has sent officials to inspect the companies on Koh Larn. They found 14 companies providing sea walking at several spots about 300 metres off the shore where corals lie.

A gathering by members of the department and Pattaya executives yesterday moved to get sea walker firms, concerned authorities and marine experts to address the issue at a meeting next week.

The department has also sent a letter to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to strongly consider the matter before issuing permits for sea walking.

An officer from TAT’s Travel and Guide Registration for Pattaya said companies always registered as tour guide businesses without revealing they will also provide sea walking.

In Phuket, a TAT official said the authority has never promoted sea walking because it affects the environment.

“If anyone can prove the companies damaged the natural environment, we can withdraw their licences. Concerned authorities have to lend a hand in the issue because the TAT alone cannot monitor them,” he said.

A sea walk operator at Koh Hey said she was concerned about the report as her operation did not harm marine life.

“We choose non-coral locations and let tourists walk only on bare sand. Our attraction is in seeing fish, not coral reefs,” she said. She took tourists to a depth of five metres and stayed underwater for 30 minutes.

In her five years of operation, she said sea walking was mostly popular with Asian tourists who cannot swim. She takes between 50 and 100 walkers a day.

“Environmental-minded tourists shun our activity as they think we are damaging the underwater environment,” she said.

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot

The Nation