Twenty years ago Ngapali Beach, on the Bay of Bengal in Rakhine State a short drive from Thandwe, was an unspoilt gem in the crown of Myanmar’s natural treasures.
The local population, which had access to the beach, lived mainly from the sea. Every now and then a foreigner could be spotted at one of the few hotels along the foreshore.
Times have changed. Tourism is modest but growing at Ngapali, with a limited number of mid-range and upscale hotels operating in the area. Nearly all the beachfront land has been sold and only a small strip of public beach remains. But the sand is disappearing.
Normally, the sea removes and deposits sand in an everlasting cycle. A beach will gently slope upwards, until it runs into the natural barriers of plant growth and the roots of palm trees. Sand mining at Ngapali has disturbed the natural balance. Sand depths on the beach, one of the most attractive in Southeast Asia, are up to one metre lower than last year, and the slope to the foreshore is steeper.
The removal of the sand has enabled the sea to undermine the foundations of hotel compound boundary walls and the roots of palm trees, many of which fell over this year during the monsoon. Retaining walls for beachfront terraces at the Sandoway Resort and the Merciel Retreat and Resort also collapsed. A hotel being built by the Department of Civil Aviation, a stone’s throw from Thandwe Airport, encountered the same fate. The wall around the compound fell apart.
The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has been trying to curb the sand mining since 2004. Its most recent effort to stop the illegal use of beach sand was MoHT notification 2/15, dated January 1, 2015. It was followed by notification 1/2015 from the Thandwe General Affairs Department on January 27, which prohibited the removal of beach sand and warned of serious action against those who flouted the rules. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
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