2013年7月30日星期二

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~

2013年7月27日星期六

提升旅游收入 清迈推拉力赛

提升旅游收入 清迈推拉力赛

国家旅游局清迈办事处主任逸素昨天(25日)透露,该办事处与曼谷航空公司推出第3届「清迈购物与餐饮拉力赛」项目,是为推广清迈旅游购物,提升旅游购买力,以带动地方经济的发展。

逸素表示,为了配合国家旅游局的工作,清迈府也与政府部门合作,共同推出「清迈购物与餐饮拉力赛」活动,预计今年将会有150人加入清迈府的该活动项目中。活动正式举办时间为下月4日,下月1时至晚上8时,感兴趣的民众和业者可以在本月29日报名。活动将聘请30个工作团队进行竞争,应召的竞争团队经过注册程序后,将积分卡礼品袋以及2辆自行车。咨询电话085-3538984,或登陆网站www.fb.com/FlyBangkokAir

「清迈购物与餐饮拉力赛」项目是国家旅游局与泰国VISA国际组织联手推出「泰国神奇大促销」活动的子项目之一。据悉,「泰国神奇大促销」项目在每年的6月15日至8月15日阶段举办,今年已经是第15年了,目前全国共有1万5000家旅行公司加入该项目。项目活动的主要推广城市共有7个,分别是曼谷、清迈、华欣、沙美、芭堤雅、普吉以及合艾市。该项目的举办主要是为了引导外国游客在泰国消费,推动泰国旅游业的发展,从而带动整个经济圈的发展。

旅游项目活动的服务和消费促销价格达到80%,每次购物达500铢则可以获得1张奖品优惠券,使用信用卡付钱则增加至2张购物券。项目活动介绍后将推出幸运抽奖活动,泰国游客最高奖项达100万铢,而外籍游客则有机会获得「泰国神奇30日双人游」的大旅游套餐免费活动,总价值350万铢。感兴趣的民众可以登陆网站www.fb.com/AmazingThailandGrandSale

~~世界日报~~

2013年7月23日星期二

Chiang Mai, Hua Hin best

Chiang Mai, Hua Hin best



The Live and Invest Overseas website has ranked Chiang Mai and Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district as a couple of the world's best places to retire due to the low cost of living and beautiful beaches.

The website recently revealed its first annual "retire overseas" index which used several criteria to name the best places, including the cost of living, local people's English skills, entertainment venues, environment, public health, infrastructure, real estate, residential areas, safety and taxes.

Chiang Mai and Hua Hin were included in a list of 21 other cities, including Abruzzo in Italy, Ambergris Caye and Cayo in Belize, Boquete in Panama and Cebu in the Philippines.

Because of the low cost of living with Bt 37,500 per month. 

Moreover, the cost of insurance and medical service are not too expensive for foreigner.

While Hua Hin was picked up because of the precious beaches and low cost of living.

~News courtesy of The Nation~

2013年7月22日星期一

安达曼海5府共推旅游互联网

安达曼海5府共推旅游互联网

普吉府副府尹颂迈昨天(16日)在Andaman Explorer新闻发布会上表示,该府将会携手安达曼海域附近府治发展旅游互联网,发展旅游系统,共创造旅游业辉煌。这次新闻发布会的部门包括,普吉市府、观光与体育部普吉办事处、泰国旅游业协会、普吉旅游业协会等。  

颂迈指出,这5个府治分别是普吉、攀牙、甲米、拉农和董里府。将这5个府治的发展成为一个庞大的旅游网,发展基础设施,开创旅游新景点,共同将该5府的旅游业系统提高到国际标准水平。尤其是要带动拉农和董里府的旅游业发展,因为这两个府治的发展前景很广开,旅游资源丰富,而目前的游客量还不多,所以发展潜力很大。  

普吉府是安达曼海域附近府治中最受欢迎的府治,游客量占该区域游客总量的80%。过去两年普吉府与攀牙府和甲米府联手共同发展旅游业,效果甚佳,因为该府决定将与安达曼海域附近的5个府治联手,共创旅游业辉煌。而拉农府的旅游资源包括,健康之旅、自然资源旅游、人文旅游、100年火车站、温泉等。  

根据世界旅游组织(UNWTO)预计,2020年东南亚旅游将增加到16亿人次。

~以上新闻转载自世界日报~