Loss in Thai tourism at oil spilled-Samet Island estimated at Bt100m

BANGKOK, August 1 (TNA) - Thailand may lose about 100 million baht in national tourism revenue in the short term following last Saturday's oil leak in the vicinity of Phrao Bay on Samet Island in the eastern Rayong province. Piyaman Tejapaibul, President of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), made the projection on Thursday, insisting that the estimated loss is only for “short-run” because the incident took place during the country's low tourism season. Piyaman said that concerned officials have closely kept monitoring environment impacts and other related matters in the future, as Samet Island is enriched with natural resources, acknowledging that similar incidents have occurred nine times over the past decade. Piyaman urged that concerned officials introduce effective measures to cope with such the incident, as the Samui Tourism Association in seaside Surat Thani province in the Thai South, also along the Gulf of Thailand's coast, where there is an offshore oil drilling platform, has already queried on the ongoing oil slick problem. Besides, TCT members are also discussing whether they should request the Thai House of Representatives to consider the issue. Workers have been, meanwhile, putting efforts to clean up the crude spills in the vicinity of the Phrao Bay, caused by an oil leak from a pipeline belonging to PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC). PTTGC President Bowon Vongsinudom told reporters that his company plans to use its ships and those owned by the Harbour Department and the Royal Thai Navy to help sucking oil slick struck on rocks in affected zones. In a related development, Thai Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak conferred with tourism operators on Samet Island on Thursday afternoon in an effort to restore their confidence. (TNA)