PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Many tonnes of small fish were washed up dead along about 10 kilometres of the Hua Hin beach after heavy rain sent freshwater flooding out to the sea.
It rained heavily in the area for hours on Monday. The freshwater drained off into the sea and by the evening fish, prawns, crabs and other marine life started bobbing to the surface to breathe, unable to get enough dissolved oxygen.
On Tuesday morning huge numbers of small fish, mostly ponyfish, were found dead, washed up on the beach from Klai Kangwon Palace to Khao Takiab.
People were catching live fish just off the beach to eat and to sell. The dead fish soon started giving off an unpleasant smell and were gathered up from the sand and sold to animal feed producers.
Subin Chuchuen from nearby Kaeng Krachan district, Phetchaburi, said he bought a new fishing net especially to catch the fish off the beach on Tuesday.
He would not gather dead ponyfish, which were cheap, from the beach. He preferred to catch the considerable numbers of silver-banded whiting swimming in the water. These fish he could sell for more than 100 baht per kilogramme.
Jeerawat Prammanee, assistant mayor of Hua Hin, said there were tens of tonnes of dead, rotting fish on the beach. About 100 soldiers from the nearby camp were helping collect and dispose of them.