The hundreds of old railway train carriages dumped into the sea to make artificial coral reefs in the Southern Provinces of Thailand, have proven not only to attract the creatures of the sea, but also a large fleet of Thai fishing boats.

Our income has doubled since those railway wagons were dropped in our area, said fisherman Makosee Ma from the Narathiwat district in Southern Thailand. Narathiwat's Muang district, referring to last year's dumping of train carriages into the sea to make artificial coral reefs and habitats for the fish.

Once victims of immense over fishing, Thailand's fishermen are now very fast collecting the benefits after the Thai department of fisheries dropped 100 train carriages about 4 kilometers offshore of the Narathiwat Muang, Tak Bai Pattani districts of Southern Thailand. The new undersea homes would provide a place for the fish to replenish their number.

The new artificial coral reefs have revived fish that were almost extinct in Thailand, such as silver pomfrets. The darkness of the dumped railway carriages attracts large, deep-sea fish as well as smaller fish seeking shelter.

Last year in the Sai Buri district of Pattani, 208 train carriages were dropped into the Thai sea's on initiative of Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand. As fish stocks are recovering in this area, fishing boats have intensively started fishing in this area, defeating completely the purpose of the scheme from the Thai fishery department.

Coast guard patrol boats fail to catch all the fishing trawlers, as the new artificial reef network is extensive. The Thai fishing boats are even using radar and sonar to locate the newly created reefs. Some fishing boats even use powerful lights to attract the fish out of the train carriages to net them. Ruslin Kasim, a fisherman from Sai Buri, said the fish is beginning to disappear again out of the area and has now decided to take up a fishing job in Malaysia.

A new law was needed to stop fishing boats operating close to the artificial reefs. The new law bans push trawlers from operating 3 kilometers from the shore, but they should also be stopped from coming within 2 kilometers of the newly created artificial reefs as well. The Thai industrial sector is also in favor of creating stricter fishing zones.

Thailand's department of fisheries plans to make more artificial reefs in both the Andaman sea and the Gulf of Thailand to boost the Kingdoms poor fish stocks.