Koh Tao’s pristine waters welcome the world, while behind the scenes, communities work together to tackle waste management challenges to protect what makes their home special

The crystal-clear waters of Koh Tao have made this small island a diving paradise, welcoming over 400,000 visitors annually. In Trang province, where ancient mangrove forests embrace the Andaman Sea, communities have long understood the precious connection between land and the ocean.

Today, across both Trang province and Koh Tao in Surat Thani province, something inspiring is happening. Communities have become champions in protecting their ocean heritage, turning challenges into opportunities for positive change. Local stakeholders, from fishermen to hotel owners, from school children to municipal leaders, are joining forces to tackle the growing tide of waste in their communities, supported by Trang municipality and Koh Tao sub-district municipality.

Through the MA-RE-DESIGN project, jointly implemented by GIZ Thailand and WWF Thailand, we have witnessed powerful stories of transformation. Field visits and community interviews reveal a shared awakening: everyone recognises that single-use plastics, those convenient but persistent visitors to our daily lives, are overstaying their welcome in our environment far too long.

Community volunteers and hotels collaborate in waste collection, implementing waste reduction and recycling approaches in their management practices (Bang Rak and Trang City municipality)

In the Bang Rak community and Trang City, community leaders have found ways to turn waste into something valuable. They have established networks between residents and local drinking water producers, ensuring used PET bottles find their way back into recycling instead of ending up in landfills. Hotels and restaurants have also joined in the effort, replacing plastic bottles with reusable glassware to welcome visitors in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

But perhaps the most moving example of collective action unfolded on World Ocean Day 2025 (8 June) on Koh Tao. Students, teachers, government officials, dive operators, hotel owners, restaurant staff, local shopkeepers and the Koh Tao Tourism Association came together to clean up their island, collecting waste from communities, the shorelines, and even from under the sea.

Students and community members joining hands to collect coastal waste on Koh Tao during World Ocean Day activities

Divers participate in underwater waste collection

The WWF Thailand team helps sort waste collected from across the island at the waste-sorting station

The numbers celebrate their own story: 1.8 tonnes of waste was collected and carefully sorted into categories – waste that had escaped formal collection systems and could have leaked into the ocean. Each piece of waste represented a small victory, but also a reminder that solving this problem requires all of us, every hand, every heart, every conscious choice we make for the environment.

The ocean connects us all; its health reflects our collective choices. In Trang and Koh Tao, communities are proving that when we act together – one bottle, one beach, one collaborative effort at a time, we can turn the tide on marine litter.