CLAIRE Green has been coming to Koh Samui for her holidays the past two years, finding the allure of the island’s idyllic charm irresistible. For this native of Birmingham, England, the beaches and natural surroundings of Ban Taling Ngam, in the southwestern part of the island, are particularly remarkable.

Ms. Green has more reason to be attached to Samui. One of her neighbors in Birmingham, Darren Chatwin, lives on Samui and is engaged in property business, along with another friend, David Wykes.

This time however, Green, who works as sales manager for the Finnish firm Metsa Tissue back in England, was disappointed with what she saw when she arrived on the island for a three-week holiday. She said litter and rubbish were visible everywhere, adding that Nasai Beach in Ban Taling Ngam looked ugly with trash washed ashore or thrown carelessly around.

It was for this reason that Green, along with Chatwin and Wykes, as well as a few caring Thai friends, decided to undertake her own beach cleanup for almost a week recently.

“Koh Samui’s natural environment is so beautiful and it’s a pity if this will be destroyed by the indifference and disregard by some people, both foreigners and locals, who do nothing to keep the island free from so much rubbish that is almost everywhere these days,” Green told Samui Express during their beach cleanup.

Among the cleaners seen was Gao Kha, a 2-year-old Thai girl accompanying her mother, Jaiw, who made much effort to pick up plastic bottles and other trash and put them in the black plastic garbage bag.

Three young Thai ladies — Nid, Yao and Tu — were also there to do their share of cleaning the 600-meter-long stretch of beach.

“Today’s actually a good day for us as there’s less rubbish to pick up; it is the fifth day we have been doing this beach cleanup,” Green said.

She said that in the next few days they would move on to the beach in Hua Thanon to do another cleanup.

She admitted that their effort was but a small dent on the overall beach garbage situation on the island and expressed the hope that more Thai people and expats on the island, as well as tourists like her, would do something to keep Samui, especially the beaches, clean.