Samui, nearby islands also vulnerable to oil leaks
The oil-spill crisis on Koh Samet has scarred the Kingdom's tourism industry and operators, especially those in Koh Samui and neighbouring islands, are voicing concern that their investments will go down the drain if something like this happens to them.
In fact, some say that the islands nearby, such as Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Tao, also face the risk of oil washing up at their shores.
At present, four concessions have been granted for petrol exploration in the area, and the farthest oil drill is only 65 kilometres from Koh Tao, while another, operated by Coastal Energy Co, is about 40km away from the shores of Koh Samui and Nakhon Si Thammarat district of Khanom.
‘‘Even at the exploration stage, islands face the risk of an oil leak. Let’s look at the Koh Samet’s Ao Phrao as an example. The initial leak was 24km away, but the spill hit Ao Phrao overnight. Here, Samui is 40km away, so it will only take two days to destroy its beautiful beaches," Tanongsak Somwong, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, said.
Tanongsak was attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) working-group meeting on tourism last week. At the meeting, he and other association members asked why the Energy Ministry had awarded such concessions, adding that the authorities should realise tourism is key to the Thai economy. Last year, tourism contributed up to Bt200 billion in taxes to national coffers and Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Pha-ngan provided more than Bt1.5 billion combined.
For Samui, up to 75 per cent of its annual revenue comes from tourism, and if it is hit by a disaster such as an oil spill, many of its businesses could face the brink of bankruptcy. Not to mention the harm that will be done to marine life and bio-diversity – things that cannot be given a monetary value.
No confidence in preventive moves
This issue was also raised with Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak, who was in Samui last week to meet with local operators after presiding over the opening of the APEC meeting on tourism. Last Friday, he also spoke with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to look for ways to secure tourism in areas by the sea.
Tanongsak said the association was not confident about the oil-spill preventive measures taken by oil companies, adding that the local community had learned from the Samet tragedy that firms don’t have effective tools to save the island.
Last week, a fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the oil leak said that according to preliminary findings "unknown factors" – not human error – were behind the spill.
The leak apparently happened while crude oil was being transferred from a PTT Global Chemical offshore pipeline to a tanker at 6.30am on July 27. A gust of wind apparently destabilised the tanker receiving the oil, which lead the pipe to get disconnected, Khunying Thongtip Ratanarat, who is leading the investigation team, said.
