"Map Ta Phut"

An emergency plan to stop a huge oil spill from engulfing one of Thailand’s main holiday islands was being drawn up on Sunday, according to Thai press reports.

Star Petroleum Refining (SPRC)'s move to dispose of oil from a 60-tonne spill in the Gulf of Thailand could violate the law, an environmental group said on Sunday.

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The massive oil spill off Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong came from 160,000 litres that leaked from a floating jetty, not 400,000 as reported earlier, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources director-general Sophon Thongdee said on Wednesday, citing a report from Star Petroleum Refining, operator of the offshore facility.

The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) is accelerating its Smart Park Industrial Estate plan as part of the Map Ta Phut Port Project so it can open for business in 2026, expecting to create more than 7,400 jobs with over Bt1.3 billion circulating in the system per year.

STP&I Plc has signed two new contracts, worth Bt346 million, for the construction of Kelani Bridge project in Sri Lanka, and the MOCD2 project at the Map Ta Phut Olifins site in Rayong province, according to the company report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday.

Eighteen Thai and foreign firms have shown interest in buying the term of reference for the development of Map Ta Phut port (Phase 3), Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand ( IEAT)'s governor Somchint Pilouk said yesterday.