Phuket Water For The Long Term

[GPage]

In the process of gathering retirement info on Phuket (you folks have been awesome in your responses), I have scrolled back through the Phuket Forum to see how things are developing. I especially wanted to see some posts and reactions from Dec. 26, 2004 when the Tsunami hit. (Oddly, no real email panic...). While looking back, I read a number of posts regarding the dam and the water supply issues. It seems that anyone who was a resident in a hillside area was reduced to purchasing water on a regular basis. I know there have been political issues and that the long term status of the water supply in Phuket has raised serious concerns all around.

Can someone give me an update on the situation? If this infrastructure issue will be ongoing for years to come, are there areas of Phuket that are less desireable than others due to frequent water shortages? What is a "cube" of water? How is it used for household needs such as flushing toilets (western?) or cooking, cleaning, etc... Are there areas well north of Patong or on the eastern side of the island that have not been affected at all?

Thanks for your help!!!

Gary

[traveldog]

Gee Gary you do have a lot of questions! The water situation here is pretty bad during the summer because of inadequate storage vs. demand...especially west side(patong,karon,kata). Cube of water? no idea. The best place to live for water? Well, thats easy....if its well water you are on low land is always better. Right now my house in Nai Harn has one well that feeds me, 3 neighbor houses and a small beach resort down the road......and we never run out.....but, being in a kind of low area my property is prone to flooding

Never had a problem living in Chalong when on municipal water even when west side was being rationed. When I lived in Kata, our well went dry for two weeks and the landlord would fill it with water tankers that wasn't very expensive at all.....

There are lots of plans on expanding water resources for Phuket and will hopefully meet the incredible increase in population but thats down the road. When I was living in Kata I always kept a 5 gal bottle of water for dry days....thats drinking water and at 10baht a bottle pretty cheap....

oh, and here is a latest from the press.....

Yesterday, about 30 hotel operators met with Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangura to seek help in easing the tap water shortage.

The falling water supply was a pressing problem for businesses and communities in Patong, Kata and Karon beaches.

Around 70 hotels on the island buy up to eight million baht of water from private suppliers each month, said Panu Maswongsa, the assistant managing director of the Patong Resort Hotel.

The Provincial Waterworks Authority attributed the sharp jump in water demand mainly to the high tourist season, he said. Occupancy rate for hotels in Phuket currently averages 85%.

"Tourists are frustrated with our restricted water supply. We have got to find ways to get by. It's been pretty bad for our image though. Our competitive edge will plunge given high water costs," said Pattanapong Ake-wanich, chairman of the Phuket Tourism Association.

Sayan Waree-arunrat, chief of the Phuket Waterworks Office, said the Bangwad reservoir now held about five million cubic metres of water. It is only able to supply 1,000 cubic metres of water a day compared with the daily demand that tops 1,500 cubic metres.

The office is seeking funds to purchase three million cubic metres of fresh water but the amount is still expected to fall short of demand in April and May, the height of summer.

The Phuket governor was certain that the water shortage problem was here to stay and he urged the government to step in to help.

[GPage]

Gee Gary you do have a lot of questions! The water situation here is pretty bad during the summer because of inadequate storage vs. demand...especially west side(patong,karon,kata). Cube of water? no idea. The best place to live for water? Well, thats easy....if its well water you are on low land is always better. Right now my house in Nai Harn has one well that feeds me, 3 neighbor houses and a small beach resort down the road......and we never run out.....but, being in a kind of low area my property is prone to flooding

Never had a problem living in Chalong when on municipal water even when west side was being rationed. When I lived in Kata, our well went dry for two weeks and the landlord would fill it with water tankers that wasn't very expensive at all.....

There are lots of plans on expanding water resources for Phuket and will hopefully meet the incredible increase in population but thats down the road. When I was living in Kata I always kept a 5 gal bottle of water for dry days....thats drinking water and at 10baht a bottle pretty cheap....

oh, and here is a latest from the press.....

Yesterday, about 30 hotel operators met with Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangura to seek help in easing the tap water shortage.

The falling water supply was a pressing problem for businesses and communities in Patong, Kata and Karon beaches.

Around 70 hotels on the island buy up to eight million baht of water from private suppliers each month, said Panu Maswongsa, the assistant managing director of the Patong Resort Hotel.

The Provincial Waterworks Authority attributed the sharp jump in water demand mainly to the high tourist season, he said. Occupancy rate for hotels in Phuket currently averages 85%.

"Tourists are frustrated with our restricted water supply. We have got to find ways to get by. It's been pretty bad for our image though. Our competitive edge will plunge given high water costs," said Pattanapong Ake-wanich, chairman of the Phuket Tourism Association.

Sayan Waree-arunrat, chief of the Phuket Waterworks Office, said the Bangwad reservoir now held about five million cubic metres of water. It is only able to supply 1,000 cubic metres of water a day compared with the daily demand that tops 1,500 cubic metres.

The office is seeking funds to purchase three million cubic metres of fresh water but the amount is still expected to fall short of demand in April and May, the height of summer.

The Phuket governor was certain that the water shortage problem was here to stay and he urged the government to step in to help.

Traveldog,

Thanks alot for the information. It appears that, in spite of the supply and demand inconsistecies, folks in Phuket are dealing with the day to day needs. I have just about settled on the Chalong area for a number of reasons, and it's good to hear that the water issues are not as considerable there.

I appreciate your help.

Gary