Vietnam battles rising tide of trash in idyllic Halong Bay

Squinting in the bright light of a hot summer morning, Ms Vu Thi Thinh perches on the edge of her small wooden boat and plucks a polystyrene block from the calm waters of Vietnam's Halong Bay.

It is not yet 9am, but a mound of styrofoam buoys, plastic bottles and beer cans sits behind her.

They are the most visible sign of the human impacts that have degraded the Unesco World Heritage Site, famed for its brilliant turquoise waters dotted with towering rainforest-topped limestone islands.

"I feel very tired because I collect trash in the bay all day without much rest," said Ms Thinh, 50, who has been working for close to a decade as a trash picker.

"I have to make five to seven trips on the boat every day to collect it all."