Pha-ngan, Samui still blacked out
Some foreign tourists cut short their holidays and left Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan after blackouts on both islands since Tuesday caused by a short circuit of an underground cable from Nakhon Si Thammarat, a source said yesterday.
Hotel and resort operators flocked to petrol stations to buy fuel for their electricity generators, but many stations could not help them because they themselves were without power to run their pumps.
At press time, more than 3,000 foreign tourists were waiting to leave Koh Samui via flights on Bangkok Airways – the only airline providing service to the island – causing unprecedented heavy congestion at Samui Airport. The tourists said they had lost confidence in officials’ ability to restore power after the island had been deprived of electricity for more than 24 hours, according to the source.
Thaweesak Somwong, president of the Samui Tourism Promotion Association, played down the reports of cancellations, saying tourism to the island was not heavily affected because hotel and tour operators had reserve power generators to deal with such unexpected events.
He said travel cancellations were at the normal rate.
Hospitals on Samui have reserve power, while electricity was being distributed alternately to commercial zones for three hours each.
Surat Thani Governor Chatpong Chatputi said the blackout occurred when a main underground power cable short-circuited. Officials were waiting for hydraulic pliers to be delivered from Nakhon Si Tham-marat and repair work was expected to be complete last nightWednesday night, assuming |no other obstacles arose during maintenance.
Many petrol stations on Samui were sold out as resorts and hotels hoarded the available fuel to power their generators for fear of a prolonged blackout. Fuel traders from Surat Thani normally deliver petrol three times a day, but since the blackout they have doubled the deliveries.
Charnchai Banditsaowapak, deputy director of the Provincial Electricity Authority, said the agency would fix the problem as soon as possible. Samui has one main power cable that distributes 33,000 volts of electricity for the island’s consumption.
Specialists said the 24-kilometre-long cable from the Khanom Power Plant in Nakhon Si Thammarat had no connection points en route. They speculated the short circuit might have been caused by underground moisture, or possibly air contact with the cable.
