Oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand hits Koh Samed

Yesterday an oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand caused by a pipe leak at an offshore platform yesterday has led to concern about the possible adverse impacts on the environment.

More than 70 tonnes of crude oil spilled into the sea following a leak in a crude-oil pipe at an offshore platform operated by PTT Global Chemical, a subsidiary of petroleum company PTT.

A Koh Samed oil spilled beach

One of he main people in charge came with this statement yesterday "We still have some concern about the chemical being used, even though it is clear that the oil leak will not reach the beaches or coral," said Phuchong Saritsadeechaikol, director of the government's Marine and Coastal Resource Conservation Center in Rayong.

Unfortunately he has been proofed completely wrong, as the pictures here speak for themselves, since the oil reached Koh Samed beaches.

Koh Samed beach today

The platform that had the leak is government owned (PTT), so that won't make things easier from a legal point of view, it'll be a case of the government going after the government? Very unlikely to happen.

An aerial view of the leak moving towards Koh Samed

The scary part however, is that similar platforms are in front of Koh Samui now and very nearby, less than 40km away from Samui beaches, as reported in March. With a spill on one of these platforms, Koh Samui could look like this.

Some of the work on the beaches, involving army personal among others

A sad state of affairs and we can only hope that the Thai authorities do their uttermost best to contain this environmental disaster.

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Camille