Dirty business: Hotels on Phu Quoc Island discharge waste into the sea   Plastic bags and styrofoam boxes that tourists left on the beach in Phu Quoc. Photo: Dinh Tuyen Littering by tourists and waste discharges from hotels are taking away the appeal of Phu Quoc Island in southern Vietnam as a must-visit destination. Beaches on the island are now full of plastic bags, food containers and food waste left by tourists.  Nguyen Xuan Hien, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said: “If one person eats and leaves their trash behind, others will just follow.” Local media has reported about the issue for months. But Hien said the beaches are still dirty and officials have not fixed the problem. Some locals have also criticized small beachfront restaurants for discharging wastewater directly into the sea and letting diners urinate on the beach. But those small restaurants are not alone. Luxury hotels have done the same. Along Ba Keo, one of the most beautiful and popular beaches on the southern island, there are 28 hotels and resorts. Most of them discharge their wastewater straight into the sea through pipes. Tourists who want to swim have to go far away from these hotels. Phung Xuan Mai, general director of a resort on the island, reckoned that only five hotels and resorts on the island have waste treatment systems, but whether these system meet the required standards is a different question.  By Dinh Tuyen, Thanh Nien News