Koh Samui development in spotlight after blackout

“It’s time the private and public sectors work together for its sustainable development,” said Piyamarn Techapaibul, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand.
The blackout struck at around 8am on Tuesday reportedly when a short circuit crippled the main transmission line carrying electricity from Nakhon Si Thammarat on the mainland to Samui and nearby Pha-ngan Island. The repair work had been expected to be completed on Wednesday night.
Surat Thani assistant governor Siripat Pattanakul said the restoration operation would be finished later last night and electricity would be restored throughout the island soon afterwards.
Piyamarn said the power outage was a good lesson. Tourism development nationwide must go hand in hand with infrastructure development. Samui should be a model, but its development has proceeded without direction. Especially utilities, both water and electricity, are insufficient to serve population growth.
For example, 10,000 rooms were estimated to be needed to serve the island, but now that figure has doubled, she said.
Thirayuth Chirathivat, CEO of Centara Hotels and Resorts, also called for the problems to be fixed, especially regarding water supply. His three hotels on Samui have faced shortages several times. Piyamarn said the immediate damage to tourism was slight. New York City also faced the same kind of power interruption.
Business was running as usual. The airport was still open and hotels from five to lower stars have survived without facing serious trouble. Especially the small and medium-sized inns and guesthouses have offered special services to make their guests relax.
Thirayuth said the impact on his business has not been significant, thanks to generators installed.
Authorities in Surat Thani yesterday declared as disaster zones the two districts that have been suffering from blackouts since Tuesday. Surat Thani Governor Chatpong Chataputi announced the decision as he set out to inspect the situation in Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan in the morning.
The decision enables the provincial authority to use its emergency budget of Bt50 million, which will be used to buy necessary supplies, particularly petrol, for affected people.
Meanwhile Senee Puwasettatha-vorn, president of the Tourism Council of Surat Thani, said about 20 per cent of tourism on the islands was affected by the blackout.
Meanwhile Koh Samui and Koh Phangan hospitals issued statements that they are not affected by the blackouts as they have sufficient petrol to operate the spare power generators.
Vara Chanchow, director of the Provincial Electricity Authority, Region 2, in the South said the PEA had planned to install an additional power cable line to Pha-ngan and Koh Toa. The cable line ordered from Norway was to arrive on December 9 but the blackout happened abruptly. The installation of this back-up cable line will be finished next February.
Panu Woramit, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s South office, said that due to the low season, 50 per cent of Samui hotel rooms were occupied and standard-level hotels have their own generators, so the incident has slightly affected the tourism industry on the island.According to Bangkok Airways Head Office release yesterday, Samui Airport remains open with normal operation from 6am to 10pm.