PHUKET/BANGKOK, Thailand – Go Eco Phuket, a collective of eco-aware scuba divers, diving shops, and businesses from Phuket are once again joining forces with groups and individuals from the public and private sectors to organize one of Thailand’s largest coastal and reef clean-ups.

Organized in honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and aimed at promoting responsible and eco-aware tourism, the third Go Eco Phuket is scheduled to take place on August 3, 2014, and will be a massive cooperative clean-up of the bays and reefs around the islands of Racha Yai and Racha Noi.

Mr. Thawatchai Arunyik, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “This high-profile cleaning of the reefs and bays of these lovely islands will not only help to return Racha Yai and Racha Noi to their natural pristine states, but will also help promote an ethos of responsible travel and tourism among the many people and businesses that makes their living in the region’s tourist trade, as well as among visitors and locals.”

The Go Eco Phuket clean-up activity was first organised in September 2012 when over 650 divers and beach cleaners took part in removing around 15 tonnes of rubbish, including a massive discarded fishing net that weighed over 4.5 tonnes alone. There was a second clean-up of the reefs and bays a year ago in August 2013.

Now in its third year, the clean-up is expected to attract at least 500 divers and beach cleaners to help and together they hope to remove at least 1,000 kilogrammes of rubbish and debris from some of the reefs and bays around Phuket.

The clean-up will take place over one day and is scheduled to start at Ko Racha Noi, followed by Ko Racha Yai. Divers will remove any rubbish or harmful substances from the islands’ reefs while beachcombers will collect from the beaches and shores. The day will end with the sorting and weighing of all rubbish collected, and this will be sent for recycling where possible.