Koh Samet expected to recover popularity soon

Tourism sector expects Samet to recover popularity soon



THE TOURISM outlook for Koh Samet will be on a full recovery path by the end of next year after tourists gain more confidence in the island, which was hit by the oil leak on Ao Phrao beach at the end of July.

Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, chairman of the Rayong Tourist Association, said yesterday that the island was expected to see 10 per cent more tourism revenue next year. However, this scenario would be based on the continuing arrival of the island's regular foreign tourists from Scandinavia and Britain, and also new groups of Russians and Chinese.

More important, all parties will have to work together to restore tourists' confidence. Especially key foreign travel agents and media outlets must be invited to the island to receive on-the-scene information to improve its image.

About 700,000 tourists visit Koh Samet annually and 80 of them are Thais. Tourism revenue was projected at Bt4 billion this year, a slight drop from last year.

In Rayong province, of which Samet is a part, tourism was hit harder. The eastern province's tourism revenue was expected to drop to Bt20 billion this year from Bt22 billion last year when more than 5 million tourists visited the province.

Fortunately, the oil crisis hit during the low season, he said.

A subsidised campaign to lure tourists from other regions to visit the island launched by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), PTT Global Chemical (which was responsible for the oil leak) and tourism associations has helped offset the missing tourists.

This month, the average occupancy rate is 50 per cent, against 70 per cent during normal periods.

Its prospects for the long holiday next month and the New Year celebration are projected to be positive, but still far from regular times when rooms are almost all full.

Tourists are not staying at Ao Phrao, the area that was hit by the oil leak. Instead, they go to other beaches, especially Ao Wongduan and Sai Kaew. The island has 2,000 rooms to welcome tourists.

But Santi Chudintra, executive director of the TAT's eastern region, said the whole island was safe for tourists. Its scenery has been improved via a joint effort of all parties. It is ready to welcome tourists, and Ao Phrao was reopened officially on November 1.

From December 6-11, Rayong province will host a marine-travel festival to stimulate Hat Ban Phe and Koh Samet, with activities and seafood promotions. It is the 13th annual event and could revive the confidence of tourists.

~News courtesy of The Nation~

沙美岛附近珊瑚礁尚未受破坏

沙美岛附近珊瑚礁尚未受破坏

泰国东方海洋渔业研究发展中心今天指出，遭漏油事件污染海滩的沙美岛，西岸奥普劳海滩外海的珊瑚礁还未受到浮油破坏。泰石油（PTT）子公司PTT全球化学（PTTGC）27日输油管破裂，油污扩散污染沙美岛海滩，让生态专家担忧，当地渔业与生态系统会受到破坏。  

据报导，东方海洋渔业研究发展中心主任本篮萨指出，2名潜水伕昨天已探查过离沙美岛西岸100公尺海面下7公尺的珊瑚礁，浮油没有伤害到珊瑚礁，但有些海胆受到污染。本蓝萨表示，东方海洋渔业研究发展中心后续将检查这区域是否还适合海洋生物栖息。  

地理信息空间技术发展局局长安侬表示，原油薄膜昨天开始扩散到其他区域，有些可能无法肉眼看出，但卫星照片可以显示，漏油事件短期可​​能不会有重大冲击，但长期可能会伤害生态系统，影响食物链。如果失控，浮油可能会再扩散到其他府治。他指出，卫星照片显示，大量浮油已被清理，但清理单位需要继续控制浮油，而不是一昧使用化学制剂分解。  

罗勇旅游协会主席查拉特说，被污染的澳抛海滩只是沙美岛其中1个海滩，并没有全岛受到污染。但查拉特表示，如果当局无法尽快清理浮油，恐怕会伤害全部的旅游业。  

能源部长蓬萨指出，原油泄漏可能是因为大雨与风暴，PTTGC已设立调查小组调查情况。他也指出，PTT方面将对污染与损害做出赔偿，并请专家检查环境受到的伤害。

～以上新闻转载自世界日报～

Koh Samet oil pollution 沙美岛海洋污染

Oil-spill recovery will be tough: experts

Oil-spill recovery will be tough: experts



Academics have predicted a grim scenario for ecological systems hit by the oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand, including those around Koh Samet's Ao Phrao beach.

"It's going to be difficult to rehabilitate the affected areas," Phaithoon Mokkongpai of Burapha University said yesterday.

About 50 tonnes of crude oil leaked from an offshore pipeline on Saturday, spilling into the sea off Rayong.

In a bid to break up the oil slick, some chemicals have been used.

Phaithoon said he believed the use of chemicals was not appropriate because the oil-affected areas were not in the deep-sea zone, and these waters did not flow easily to the open sea.

There was a risk that oil droplets formed through the use of the chemicals would sink onto coral and kill them, he said, adding that ecological systems would then suffer because young aquatic animals and plankton usually live around the corals.

Phaithoon predicted disruption |to the food chain and believed |the impact would become evident soon.

"Although micro-organisms naturally consume oil, they won't be able to handle [such a] huge amount of oil," he explained.

He said that apart from damage to ecological systems, the oil spill would hurt tourism, the economy and coastal fisheries too.

"This is a big incident," he said, adding that the spill would not have posed such a serious threat if it had happened out at sea.

"But when [oil] reaches the coastal zone, the impacts are serious."

Pichai Sonchaeng, a former dean of Burapha University's Marine Technology Faculty, said the oil spill's impact on natural resources was worrying to everyone.

He urged all parties to quickly determine the exact leakage point, the exact amount of leaked oil and the affected areas, and to develop a model to assess the impacts.

"Then we will have to plan how to rehabilitate the environment and come up with the quickest and best way to do it," he said.

~News courtesy of The Nation~

Samet to take a hit

Samet to take a hit



Island may miss tourism revenue goal after spill

The tourism industry in Koh Samet looks set to miss this year's revenue target of Bt20 billion because of the contamination and bad publicity from last weekend's oil spill, and the tourism minister and operators on the island are calling for PTT Global Chemical to compensate the hotels affected.

Meanwhile, commercial banks will provide assistance to hotel operators affected by the spill, and some banks see this as an opportunity to offer working capital to such businesses.

Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak said yesterday that the Cabinet had agreed that PTTGC should compensate those hotels that have lost business due to guest cancellations.

He also assigned the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to examine the situation and estimate the cost.

Rayong Tourist Association chairman Chairat Trirattanajarasporn said that so far 15-20 per cent of advanced bookings had been cancelled by tourists from South Korea and Europe.

A preliminary estimate of the damage to the tourism sector is between Bt100 million and Bt200 million, but if the problem is not fully contained, that figure could reach Bt1 billion, Chairat said.

Last year, the island saw tourism revenue of Bt16 billion, and that had been expected to reach Bt20 billion this year. However, he is not confident that target can be reached now.

He called for PTTGC to tell operators when it can contain the oil leak and finish cleaning it up. The company as well should deliver a message with clear details to the public to restore tourists' confidence in the island.

Call to cooperate

He also called for all parties to integrate their efforts to restore the damaged environment.

Annually, more than 5.5 million tourists visit Samet.

"We really want to inform tourists that only Phrao Beach on the island was affected by the crude-oil spill, and on the rest of the island, they can still swim in the sea," Chairat said.

A taxi driver told The Nation many tourists were still staying on the island and were not frightened off by the event. Most of them are Chinese, followed by Westerners.

However, a business operator said the majority of tourists, mostly from Europe and China, had cancelled bookings for Koh Samet after the oil spill. Pisanu Kemaphan, president of the Rayong accommodation club, said tourists were not confident in the clean-up operations for the oil spill, which has been reported worldwide.

"This will cause long-term damage," he said, urging all relevant government agencies, particularly the TAT, and the media to present positive views of Samet. He noted that 95 per cent of tourist attractions on the island had remained safe from the spill, which had hit only a tiny part of the western shore.

According to Jiratchayuth Amyongka, head of SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) banking at Thanachart Bank, the oil spill has seriously hit tourism on Koh Samet even though some beaches were not damaged. The hotel business might take months to recover because advance bookings have been cancelled.

He noted that this was low season and operators spent this period renovating and expanding in preparation for the high season in October.

The damage might mean some hotel operators require more working capital, which might be a chance for TBank to offer credit lines to refinance customers.

In general, banks will consider the ability of customers affected by unexpected incidents to repay debt, and will offer basic assistance such as grace periods and credit lines to help them, he explained.

~News courtesy of The Nation~

罗勇海上漏油 席卷沙美岛沙滩

罗勇海上漏油 席卷沙美岛沙滩



PTTGC公司昨天出动工作人员全面清理席卷沙美岛【Koh Samet】澳抛海滩上的污染，有关部门指出这是泰国30年来最大的漏油污染事件。 （路透）

泰国东部罗勇【Rayong】府海域本月27日发生的原油泄漏事件，泄漏的50多吨原油昨天（29日）漂到著名旅游胜地沙美岛，在该岛重的澳抛海滩登陆，洁净的沙滩被染成黑色。罗勇府署昨天公告将沙美岛列入受灾区域，游客望海止步，自然资源与环境部长威切亲自登岛督导除污。泰国国家石油公司（PTT）下属的全球化工公司（PTTGC）昨天（29日）向沉重致歉，承诺在8月1日前彻底清理油污并恢复海滨环境。  

海军第一军区昨天派直升机，在罗勇海域上空勘察海上油污扩散情况，发生泄漏的地方距离玛达普工业码头约18公里，油污厚度约30毫米，继续往外扩散至沙美岛澳抛和澳坎海湾。 PTTGC公司出动的轮船仍继续清除油污，泰国石油和海军工作人员也在受到污染的沙滩上清理油污，避免污染范围不断扩大和造成更大影响。  

油管向泰国罗勇府外海漏出的原油大约50吨，除了在海面上形成宽约300公尺的污染范围，还波及暹罗湾沙美岛的澳抛海滩，当局呼吁观光客远离这片海滩。澳抛是什受泰国与各国观光客喜爱的旅游区。罗勇府副府尹苏毕帕表示，当局已关闭澳抛湾，出动300名工人全力清理白色沙滩及海面上的油渍。他说：「当前的优先要务是清理沙滩及海面上的油污，同时确保油渍不会向其他沿岸地区扩散。这是一片非常美丽的白色沙滩。我们希望能够尽快清除油渍。」  

澳抛湾一家旅游业者的职员表示：「黑色的海浪昨晚开始卷至。至29日上午为止，沙滩仍然布满油渍。我们建议游客远离沙滩，部分游客并要求提早退房。」  

罗勇府商会副主席威洛表示，预计本次事件将沙美岛整个沙滩带来20%的损失，可称得上是30年以来最严重的海上原油泄漏事故，也是罗勇府原油泄漏最多的一次。而遭到污染的沙美岛沙滩属于发展较好的区域，如果本次事件没有获得很好的解决和复苏当地海洋环境，将给该岛的旅游业带来不小影响。  

针对本次原油泄漏事件给海域周边民众带来的影响问题，当地渔民组织已向PTTGC公司提出赔偿要求，认为该公司要对该事件承担全部责任，因为还事故对当地生态环境造成严重影响，导致渔业和旅游业蒙受损失。对此，PTTGC公司也于昨天公开致歉，承诺在8月1日前将油污彻底清理干净，并恢复受污染海域。而泰国海军昨天表示，已有效控制漏油，不可能再造成环境污染。  

【本报讯】PTT全球石化公司（PTTGC）于昨（29日）上报证交所，本月27日清晨6.50分发生的石油泄漏事故，导致罗勇玛达浦工业区东南20海里的海域遭到污染。泄露的原油量达316桶，折合5万公升。  

事故发生后，PTTGC立即进行处理。截止到昨为止，原油泄漏量降至5,000公升，公司还将持续清污。为此，PTTGC已经向保险公司申请索赔，包括生产延误、协力厂商责任等，但具体赔偿细节还在评估中。  

实际上，针对PTTGC今年七月份可谓多事之秋。公司于本月早些时间关闭其低密度聚乙烯（LLDPE）石油平台，维修出现问题的气缸增压系统，牵扯到主要的压缩机，维护计画要花费三个半月的时间。该平台年均可以生产30万吨低密度聚乙烯，停工检修将导致今年整体盈利损失2％。针对停工，PTTGC同样向保险公司申请索赔，细节有待敲定。  

PTTGC的股价未受到上述事故的过多影响，29日的收盘价为73.25铢，比前个交易日下挫1.01％，成交达8亿1,011.4万铢。

～以上新闻转载自世界日报～