NATURAL Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti has called for greater control of the diving industry and warned that destruction from coral bleaching may force the closure of large areas of the Andaman region's most precious and popular marine parks and dive sites.

The Director of Research, National Parks, Thailand, Dr Songtam Suksawang, said frequent dives on Andaman reefs had illustrated that 93.6 percent of coral at Surin, the Similans, Phi Phi, Racha and Phuket is dead.

Damage was much worse than the destruction caused by the 2004 tsunami, he said. The coral could take between five and 10 years to recover, he said, and yet there were no signs of young coral.

Khun Suwit questioned the future of a Phuket that became overdeveloped and said there was a need to make "the beauty of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi stable forever."

Khun Suwit and Dr Songtam were speaking today to media at the launch of the Andaman Marine Protected Areas Network at Had Sai Keaw, a far-north beach on Phuket's west coast. They watched park rangers practice sea rescues.

Khun Suwit said there was a need for talks to begin on the future of the three provinces. "Everyone has to talk together," he said. "The governors, hotels, restaurants, everyone has to begin talking."

He acknowledged that the original tourists who visited Phuket for its natural beauty has moved on and yet for the future of its tourism, Phuket needed long-term visitors who kept returning.

"Whoever takes the money under the table, please stop," he said. "Don't destroy the fish and the forests."

Breaches of laws governing the environment would be punished, he said, no matter how senior or powerful the people involved.

Garbage and bad water at Surin Island and the Similans was creating a pollution problem, he said, caused by the popularity among divers and snorkellers. Marine life was also suffering, he said.

The dugong population, once believed to be recovering, was now declining as their rare sea grass feeding zones were polluted by coastal construction.

Turtle numbers had risen last year but were now showing signs of declining once again. Coral fish were also being sighted in fewer numbers.

"The quality of the boats and the quality of the people who bring the tourists is doubtful in some cases," he said. "The income is not the primary need. If the industry is not controlled, there will be too many boats, and too many people.

"We have to save the reefs and the marine environment."

He added that Phuket also needed to look more closely at the effects of development. "If Phuket is covered in buildings, why would people want to come to a holiday place that is just like the place they left behind?"

Phuketwan has called for Phuket's beaches to be removed from the control of corrupt local councils and placed under the protection of a new authority, and for a single government administration to oversee the future of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi so that Phang Nga and Krabi remain natural havens as Phuket becomes a big city.

The death figures site by site on coral bleaching are: Surin Island, 99.9 percent; Thachai Island 84 percent; Surin South 85 percent; Similan Island 89.3 percent. Research divers will check the sites again on Thursday.