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At 10 am sharp on Saturday morning, we met with Kiang, the captain of the long-tail boat Roman had arranged to get us out to Koh Adang (about a 30-minute ride) where we had the privilege of joining the first ever “Trash Hero Camp on Koh Adang.”
Ever since founding “Trash Hero of Koh Adang” (if you have a moment: please like them on Facebook!) in 2012, co-founders Roman and Yaman (a Koh Lipe native) have organized beach cleanups on Mondays, taking volunteers out to Koh Adang to rid the beaches of trash. Local businesses have supported the project in kind since the beginning; lending them a long-tail boat for a day, offering food for the volunteers, and –most importantly– advertising the cleanups on their storefronts or suggesting it to tourists as a “good karma” activity during their vacation. “The first time it was about 8 people, mostly people we knew. A week later it was 20 people, and on the third week it was 30 people. It just really took off!” Roman told me later on.
We were welcomed on the island by Roman, and Czech natives / regular trash heroes Jan and Hana, who had already set up camp two days before. After signing a makeshift contract confirming that we had come to this un-inhabited spot of the world of our own free will − and would take responsibility for anything that happened to us − we settled down to two full days of cleaning, and a little bit of fun. Because Koh Adang is part of the Tarutao National Park, it is un-inhabited; surrounded by a few sandy beaches, the interior is dense jungle forest.
Having organized our own trash cleanup back in 2008 while on Koh Chang (another island in Thailand), we thought we knew what to expect. Unfortunately however, some things never lose their shock-effect, and it was painful to see the beach and the forested area close-by. Mr. Maguire from “The Graduate” was right when he summed it all up with just one word: “Plastics.” (Phil has just informed me that nobody remembers this scene because the movie was way before our time, but the quote is just too fitting which is why I am leaving it in).
Over the course of two days we filled trash bag over trash bag with mostly PET and glass bottles, as well as lots of styrofoam. Rice bags full of sand that required digging up, as well as fisherman’s nets that we cut away from trees were also top contenders for “most found”. Beyond that, you name it, we found it: beer cans, flip flops, tooth brushes, toys, car seats, gas canisters, balls (we think we came across Tom Hanks’ “Mr Wilson”), hats, bed posts, and, and, and. In some cases, the ocean had turned the objects into beautiful pieces of art, causing us to coin the term “Fragments of Paradise”. In some cases, animals had already re-purposed things. Overall however, there was just too much of everything that shouldn’t have been there.
Rummaging through the sand and brush, ripping things out, and getting dirty was highly cathartic, and walking back with trash bags over my shoulder, I felt like the Secret Santa of Trash. Throughout our time on Koh Adang, we were joined by a stray dog we formally baptized “Frank Alexander III”. He probably wondered what the hell these idiot humans were doing, but he took his guard duty very seriously.
Many items found came in handy for our “camp.” The ropes served as a water pulley for big water canisters, and used to hang important items, such as lighters (used to light fires, and large… sandwiches). Some of the larger parts of wood were made into makeshift tables. Jan, our lead engineer, even constructed a float. It reminded me of the Plastiki, a slightly larger project I had read about a while ago. Except for the float (that did float, depending on your definition of the word), all prototypes made it through inspection and were approved for future camps. I had fun putting together a camp sign (you never know who might come knocking), and Hana added by building the trash hero extraterrestrial. This E.T. didn’t want to go home!
In the evenings, we cooked dinner over the campfire, and enjoyed a wide variety of culinary delights. We had purchased some fish on Koh Lipe (still alive when purchased, luckily dead by the time it came out of the cooler), which Phil expertly filleted and grilled. Other dishes included pineapple goulash, beach bruschetta, and lots of fresh fruit; always slightly crunchy, as there was sand in everything and everywhere. Having learned a little Czech: It was zasrany awesome! And thanks to the guitar Jan had brought, we even had music (beyond the sounds that came from the jungle behind us).
On our last day in the late afternoon, we paddled out in the kayak to do some snorkeling, and saw some amazing fish. Both of us are total newcomers to the realm of diving and snorkeling (the first and only time I ever snorkeled was in Hawaii, where I came in contact with a huge tortoise and practically peed my pants), but we came away extremely excited over the whole experience and determined to learn how to dive.
On Monday around noon, two long-tail boats came to pick the trash − and us − up. We headed back to Koh Lipe with around 40 bags, my back a little burned, all of us extremely sandy (and likely not smelling like roses), but utterly happy about having experienced these wonderful days in paradise. Thank you, Roman!
PS: Odd thing, but just as I finished writing this I came across an interesting article in The Atlantic on the ocean floor being littered with plastic as well. Read here.
You are my heroes !