BANGKOK, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Using the lockdown period when no tourists were present, environmental activists and diving instructors took part in an environment conservation project, and have retrieved more than one ton of ocean waste on southern Thailand's famous resort island of Phi Phi.
The "Clean Me Phi Phi Today" project, which officially kicked off on Friday, will continue until May 12, the day the island lockdown is expected to be lifted.
Participating activists, divers and business operators began to collect auto tires, glass, plastic bottles and other waste at the main pier of the island since an emergency decree announced on March 25 by the Thai government put the island under a lockdown.
Many of the volunteering collectors said some of the garbage was swept into the sea during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004.
Prasert Wongna, head of tourism business operators' club of Phi Phi, said with the travelling ban it was a great opportunity to revive the environment of the island.
The project also draws Phi Phi community to improve waste management and sewage system of the island, Prasert said. Enditem
