Water crisis hits Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Samui, tap water rationed

[webfact]

 

On Koh Pha Ngan, a water crisis since late March has led to a stringent rationing of tap water which affected both locals and tourists.

 

The rationing, operating on a rotational basis, leaves some areas parched on certain days while others savour the flow. A meagre 3,500m3 to 4,000m3 of water trickles through the pipes daily, barely meeting the island’s thirst.

 

With its lifelines strained, Pha Ngan Island relies on two reservoirs, boasting a combined capacity of 740,000m3, and a reverse osmosis water plant, churning out a modest 600m3 of potable water daily from the salty embrace of the sea.

Yet, the parched plight doesn’t end there. Across the glistening straits, Samui Island shivers under the shadow of a similar drought, threatening the hospitality hub’s promise of 2.4 million tourist arrivals this year.

Privately operated water trucks trundle across the island, ferrying precious cargo to thirsty hotels perched on elevated grounds, beyond the reach of the dwindling tap supply. The cost burden trickles down to hoteliers, swelling their operational expenses and leaving them high and dry compared to their counterparts elsewhere.

 

Ratchaporn Poonsawat from Koh Samui Tourism Promotion Association laments the dearth of sustainable solutions. He warns that unless the government addresses the issue with foresight, the very allure of investment in island tourism may evaporate like morning mist.

 

Meanwhile, on Samui Island, three main water sources, the wetlands of Phru Krajood, Phru Na Muang, and Phru Chaweng, store a modest total of 3,200,000m3, barely sufficient to quench the island’s growing thirst.

 

A lifeline emerges from the mainland, as a modest flow of 22,000m3 per day trickles through an undersea pipeline from Surat Thani, swelling by an additional 5,000m3 during the parched embrace of the dry season.

 

In the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, the Pak Mun Dam offers a watery spectacle during the Songkran festival. As the floodgates open, the Kaeng Saphue rapids, long submerged beneath the dam’s embrace, resurface in a jubilant splash, reported Thai PBS World.

 

Yet, as the waters surge, Governor Suphasit Korcharoenyot issues a cautious plea. The flood must be tempered, and monitored, lest it swell beyond 200,000,000m3, a precarious waste at the cusp of the dry season.

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Photo courtesy of Thai PBS World

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-04-05

 

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[still kicking]

I guess Songkran is not cancelled.

[ezzra]

The scrooge of unregulated and unprepeard usage of utilities by ever increacing number of tourists,

it is not enough to want more and more tourists, one has to accommodate the needs of such waves

of visitors and obviously those in Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Samui weren't...

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Across the glistening straits, Samui Island shivers under the shadow of a similar drought, threatening the hospitality hub’s promise of 2.4 million tourist arrivals this year.

No wonder the island was ruined and became a <deleted><deleted> with that many tourists visiting it.

 

IMO if it needs drastic action to save it from further destruction, I hope the government does not help them and they have to restrict the number of tourists allowed to stay on it.

 

As usual, the local authorities have done nothing to solve problems ( do they get advice from Pattaya politicians on how to not run the island? ), and one suspects that the money taken from millions of tourists vanishes into the usual suspects pockets, instead of being spent on infrastructure.

 

Last time I was there, it was sunny most of the time, but it seems that a solar powered desalination plant is beyond their IMO teeny intellects to consider.

[Rampant Rabbit]

never  mind youll all get 10k baht............shame theres  no water where they probably get metres  of it fall out the sky every year................never  mind the new submarine  will protect you from ?????

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

With its lifelines strained, Pha Ngan Island relies on two reservoirs, boasting a combined capacity of 740,000m3, and a reverse osmosis water plant, churning out a modest 600m3 of potable water daily from the salty embrace of the sea.

Yet, the parched plight doesn’t end there. Across the glistening straits, Samui Island shivers under the shadow of a similar drought, threatening the hospitality hub’s promise of 2.4 million tourist arrivals this year.

Never mind the water shortage keep the thousands of tourists flocking in, more than the infrastructure can manage.

Songkran will be interesting.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

As usual, the local authorities have done nothing to solve problems ( do they get advice from Pattaya politicians on how to not run the island? ), and one suspects that the money taken from millions of tourists vanishes into the usual suspects pockets, instead of being spent on infrastructure.

Pocket the profits and screw the sustainability.

[RichardColeman]

Honestly I think Thailand is run by idiots, had like 2 hours of decent rain in the past year in Pattaya and now they are going to waste billions of gallons of a silly water party for days on end - idiots

[ourmanflint]

Somebody in govt needs to be thinking about building many more reservoirs in areas under stress

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, ourmanflint said:

Somebody in govt needs to be thinking about building many more reservoirs in areas under stress

Or, collect more of the rain that we do get. Instead of the drains running the rainwater into the sea, run it into reservoirs.

Mind you, no real rainy season for the last few years. Not like 'the good old days' when it would rain for weeks and weeks on end without respite.

Six weeks non-stop one year that I remember.

Lack of standing rainwater is why the wells are running dry. Levels in the aquifers are dropping.

[khunPer]

17 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Or, collect more of the rain that we do get. Instead of the drains running the rainwater into the sea, run it into reservoirs.

Mind you, no real rainy season for the last few years. Not like 'the good old days' when it would rain for weeks and weeks on end without respite.

Six weeks non-stop one year that I remember.

Lack of standing rainwater is why the wells are running dry. Levels in the aquifers are dropping.

It's el Nino-years with much less rain. Rainy seasons will come back again.

However, the major problem is that tourism is constantly boosted by authorities without improving the already lacking infrastructure on the island.

[BKKBike09]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

On Koh Pha Ngan, a water crisis since late March has led to a stringent rationing of tap water which affected both locals and tourists ...

 

blah blah blah  the salty embrace of the sea.

 

yada yada yada  the parched embrace of the dry season.

 

waffle waffle long submerged beneath the dam’s embrace

 

 

Jeez - a lot of embracing going on. 

 

[dirtybirty]

Samui has well and truly had it. All the infrastructure is in need of total repair. Electric ,water but more importantly sewage. Where do you think all the septic tank trucks empty it all . Any idiot go take a look down Lipa noi by the  back roads to certain ferry company and see the land waste oops sorry incinerator plant 

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, dirtybirty said:

Where do you think all the septic tank trucks empty it all

9°31'26.0"N 100°03'25.7"E ?