12th March 2012
Another Sad Day in The Story of Rawai's Sea Wall - Part 2
Last night strong waves took down another of Rawai's trees. There has been signs of erosion along the beach at this point for about 3 months, The boatman's shelter had been leaning over and ready to fall for a few weeks, today it finally fell. By the time this photo was taken the Rawai Municipality (Or Bor Tor) had removed the fallen tree but that will probably be the end of the story for now. Maybe some real action will be taken when the sea finally gets to the road!
29th September 2011
Another Sad Day in The Story of Rawai's Sea Wall
another piece of Rawai's pedestrian promenade has collapsed.
10th September 2011
Construction Work Continues....
New buildings continue to pop up all over the place, this development is located on Rawai Beach Road.
5th September 2011
An M6.5 Earthquake in Sumatra - NO Tsunami
With a tsunami warning email service available from the PTWC and a local Tsunami Warning System we are much more prepared for an emergency than we were in 2004.However we were all glad to know that this earthquake didn't create a tsunami and Rawai's Tsunami Tower remained silent.
Detailed information about tsunami's can be found here: http://itic.ioc-unesco.org/
25th August 2011
A Sad Day in The Story of Rawai's Sea Wall
Heavy rain and strong wind at around noon today were probably the last factor to bring down one of the old pine trees that line Rawai's beach front, and are a symbol of Rawai Beach to both locals and tourists alike.
"The ownership rights of the land in this area is currently in the process of investigation."
Locals have been watching the lack of progress in repairing damage caused by erosion, as over the months the situation has been worsened by strong monsoon waves. It is only about a meter before the erosion will reach the road and with one tree down already no doubt the other trees will be in danger. (See below for earlier post about Rawai Wall from July 12th 2010 and March 31st 2011)
18th May 2011
Building continues at Koh Gaew
After the construction of the large Buddha on the North facing side of Koh Gaew,
the latest project starts to make progress.
Construction close to the Footprint of Buddha will make it much safer for worshippers who up until now have to risk their lives as they walk over slippery rocks surrounded by strong waves.
8th May 2011
Coral Bleaching one year later
Please scrolldown to post of 10th May 2010 for previous story.
PHUKET: Recent shallow-water surveys conducted off Phuket have documented significant regrowth of coral, marine biologists say.
Researchers headed by divers from the Marine and Coastal Biology and Ecology Unit of Phuket Marine Biology Center (PMBC) reveal the island’s coral reefs are starting to show signs of recovery from last year’s devastating coral bleaching episode.
Initial post-bleaching damage assessments showed that coral loss ranged from 25% in some areas to 97% in more vulnerable sites, such as Siam Bay of Racha Yai island.
For full story visit: http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=10274
1st May 2011
Dolphins in Rawai?
PHUKET: The recent announcement that a Canadian investor has sought provincial support for his plan to develop a 900-million-baht aquarium, resort and retail facility in Rawai has generated much debate over the ethics of keeping dolphins in captivity.
What do you think? Add your comment at the bottom of this blog page or at the following link: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article10246.html
28th April 2011
Nai Harn Lifeguards do more than watching swimmers!
A South African man is spending tonight behind bars in Phuket after being caught stealing from tourists at Nai Harn Beach today.
The man, who police named as 27-year-old Steven Standen, was grabbed by lifeguards after a beach operator spotted him stealing a digital camera from a bag belonging to Australian tourists frolicking in the water.
For full story see: http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=10235
31st March 2011
In follow-up to the post of 15th July 2010 (see below)
One year after the original collapse, heavy seas finally brought down another section of the Rawai wall.
A safety barrier has been installed for one part of the danger area, and later in the day some red tape and been put around to stop people walking into the abyss.
But the sad thing is what the sign says -
"The ownership rights of the land in this area is currently in the process of investigation."
And so we wait............
Thursday 15th July 2010
The Story of Rawai Wall
9.21 am April 1 2009
Somewhere around noon April 1 2009.
April 16 2009 Still waiting for work to start.
May 5 2009 Things start to progress.
May 7 2009 Now why didn't they do it like this in the first place? It looks a lot nicer!
So is this the end of the story?
One Year Later......
As the beach side restaurants strive to keep the beach in place....
the local boatmen look on in amusement....
knowing that all this will have a limited lifespan.....
despite how deep they dig.....
all it will take is a few strong waves.....
to take down the rest of the wall!
April 4th 2010 we are all waiting in anticipation...
but as I write this blog on July 15 2010, miraculously the wall is still standing!
To be continued.............
10th May 2010
Coral Bleaching
The coral around Bon Island and Rawai has been turning white for the last week or so. In the 15 years I have been crossing the sea from mainland Phuket to the islands I have never seen this before and it is apparently the worst for 20 years. If the water temperature doesn't cool down soon the coral may die. In the above photograph bleached coral can be seen as white patches where before the coral reef could be seen as a dark shadow beneath the water. Small corals that are exposed to the sun at low water will be in the most danger especially when bleaching has already occurred.
Further information about coral bleaching can be seen at:
http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/reef_managers_guide/reef_managers_guide.pdf an informative illustrated guide to coral automatically downloading 5.4MB pdf file.
or a variety of information at any of the following links:
http://www.reefbase.org/global_database/default.aspx?section=t4®ion=&country=
http://www.coral.noaa.gov/cleo/coral_bleaching.shtml
http://www.science.org.au/nova/076/076key.htm
April has passed and May draws to an end. Phuket has had very little rainfall and so temperatures remain high. It's just a matter of waiting and hoping that the coral will survive. A video taken recently at Racha Island can be seen at the following link, and according to the divers things are looking better.
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