A sticky mess
Iridescence shines on the surface of an oil slick coating a normally idyllic beach on the Thai holiday island of Koh Samet, which has been blighted by thousands of litres of crude that spewed from a leaking pipeline into the Gulf of Thailand.
Tourists have been pouring off the island, while soldiers and volunteers in white bio-hazard suits struggle to clear black oily sludge off the white sand.
A Thai soldier holds out his oily gloves at Ao Prao beach, which is now closed to the public.
Soldiers use shovels to help clean up.
They stand in the messy sludge.
Soldiers work during the clean-up operation.
They shovel layers of oil.
They bend down to scoop it up.
A soldier uses a trowel and bucket as he helps clean the beach.
A soldier holds a bucket full of oil.
The sticky substance is poured into a bag.
The soldiers' bio-hazard suits are stained with sludge.
A soldier gives one of his colleagues a drink during the clean-up operation.
Soldiers carry oil in buckets and bags.
Two soldiers drag along a sack full of the substance.
Plastic bags filled with oil lie in a pile at Ao Prao Beach.
A soldier rolls out a ream of special paper as he helps clean up the spill.
Others kneel down to lay out the material.
Rolls of the paper are left spread across the shore.
A group of soldiers taking part in the clean-up operation stand together in their white bio-hazard suits.
