Power restored on Samui and Pha-ngan Islands

SURAT THANI, THAILAND, December 7 (TNA) - Power has now been restored on Samui and Pha-ngan Islands in Thailand's southern resort Surat Thani province, after a burst electricity cable caused a blackout there for nearly four days. Thai and Swedish engineers, with needed equipment deployed to repair the underground high-voltage cable, finished the repair at 2am Friday. A test proved that transmission through the cable went smoothly; so power supply on the two resort islands has been already restored. Surat Thani Governor Chatpong Chattaraphuti witnessed the repair and thanked all workers of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) for their hard work around the clock and affected local people for their cooperation over the past four days. The governor insisted that electricity on Samui and Pha-ngan Islands will be more secured in the future, as the fourth power cable for 115-kilovolt transmission will be laid to Samui Island in April 2013. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa, meanwhile, said that the blackout was an uncontrollable incident and he hoped it would not affect the number of international tourist arrivals. (TNA)