Big oil takes on tourism

Koh Samui welcomes one million tourists a year who inject some 15 billion baht into the local economy, but residents and environmental activists say the resort island's future is in jeopardy if planned oil exploration projects come to fruition.

On July 31, opponents of a plan to install oil rigs near some of the country's famed tourist islands in the Gulf of Thailand joined hands - literally - along a 52-kilometre road on Koh Samui to protest the plan.

"We know that we're dealing with the power of the government, but we have to fight to save the environment from the dangers of oil drilling," said Ramnetr Jaikwang, president of a local movement called the Gulf of Thailand Preservation Network.

He said oil exploration and drilling would put Koh Samui and two other nearby islands, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, at risk. The three islands have a combined total of 797 hotels and resorts.

People come to these islands for their beaches, attractive dive sites and natural beauty, and having an oil rig nearby would shatter the "paradise" image of the area's beaches, said Dr Bannasart Ruangchan, president of the Koh Samui Tourism Promotion Association.

Several firms have obtained concessions to explore for petroleum at sites in the region. The closest drilling site is 42km off Koh Samui, but the border of that site is only 5km from the island's beaches.

Pratheep Thongman, 50, a local farmer who grows and sells vegetables to hotels on Koh Samui, said an oil leak from a rig could devastate the island's tourism industry.

Local businesses are entirely dependent on the environment and the effects of such an incident would spread quickly throughout the island.

An oil spill would keep tourists away, causing hotels to suffer financially and putting her out of business in the process, Mrs Pratheep said.

Fangpol Boonliang, 80, a Koh Samui resident, said tourism growth on the island has been buoyed by locals and tourism operators. The government has provided little support, he said.

He said the decision to allow oil rigs into the area would have political implications for the Democrat Party.

He added that the party's traditional support base in the South, including Surat Thani, could dry up, and result in a decisive defeat for the Democrats in the next election.

Senee Phuwasetthawon, an adviser to the Koh Samui Tourism Promotion Association, said the voices of those who stand to be directly affected by oil exploration near the islands have fallen on deaf ears.

Locals and some non-governmental organisations are protesting the projects, calling on the government to suspend all such exploration in the seas near the islands for the sake of tourism.

According to the Gulf of Thailand Preservation Network, companies that have won concessions in the area have distorted the results of mandatory public hearings which were intended to serve as venues for local feedback on the projects.

Objections to the project have been portrayed as minor concerns, the network complained.

"We understand the concessionaires and the tourism industry want energy," said Thanongsak Somwong, a member of Rak Chaweng Group, a local tourism network. "But we have an agreement that the government should come up with a way to find that energy that is friendlier to the local tourism industry."

Ruangnam Chaikwang, president of the Southern Gulf of Thailand Hotels Association, said the group has for years pushed for the government to designate a maritime area around the tourist islands as a buffer zone to stave off any industrial activity that could endanger the fragile environment.

Any type of oil drilling project would definitely harm tourism on Koh Phangan as it would directly threaten aquatic creatures, coral reefs, and beaches, said Wannee Thaipanich, president of the Koh Phangan Tourism Promotion Association.

The nearest drilling site is 65km from Koh Phangan, she said, which is still too close for comfort since the border of the concession area is only 5km from the island.