Samui, Pha-Ngan Blackouts Cause Bt1.2 Bn In Losses, Bank Of Thailand Says

[webfact]

Samui, Pha-ngan blackouts cause Bt1.2 bn in losses, BOT says

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Three days of power failures on the resort islands of Samui and Pha-ngan have caused damages worth Bt1.2 billion, the central bank announced yesterday.

Preuttipong Srimalachan, director of the Bank of Thailand's branch for the South, made the announcement after the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) managed to restore power to the two islands early yesterday.

Preuttipong said the calculation was based on the estimate that about 75,000 tourists visited Samui every month and each spent about Bt3,200 per day. He said the blackouts directly affected the spending of tourists, who ended up cutting short their visits, and this might even have a long-term effect on the industry if foreigners lose confidence.

He said the blackouts also affected other sectors in terms of money being circulated in the economy of the two islands, though the banks did not stop doing business during the three days.

"Since Samui is a top tourist destination, the problem with its infrastructure will affect tourists and investors' confidence," the BOT official said.

The PEA said it had mobilised 300 technicians to repair the damaged cables under the advice of three foreign engineers and had managed to restore power to both islands at 4.28am yesterday.

Suthat Lertmanorat, the chairman of Surat Thani Chamber of Commerce, said his agency was gathering information to send to the government to seek help in improving the islands' infrastructure to prevent such problems in the future.

He also advised the government to pay special attention to these two islands, adding that the chamber would send its proposal via the Joint Committee of Government and Private Sectors.

He said about 70 per cent or 30,000 tourists had chosen to cut short or cancel their trips because of the power disruption, causing a shortfall of at least Bt120 million in income per day.

"Though the power has been restored, we are not certain the tourists will return. We have to wait for a while to study the situation," Suthat said.

Thanongsak Somwong, president of the Samui Tourism Promotion Association, said the damage caused to the island was unprecedented because almost all businesses needed electricity.

Wannee Thaiphanit, the president of the Pha-ngan Tourism Promotion Association, said power disruption on her island had severely damaged tourism, adding that almost all foreign tourists decided to leave because they were not able to communicate with the outside world and could not carry out financial transactions.

She also called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the government to pay special attention to Samui and Pha-ngan because these two destinations earned a lot of foreign exchange for the country.

Natwipha Eewsakul, a coordinator for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said the power failure on the two islands proved that Thailand lacked an efficient system to manage power distribution because the management was centralised. She added that solar- and wind-power systems should be integrated to provide at least 90 megawatts to the two islands so damages from such disruptions can be minimised.

She said a study by the National Research Council of Thailand had found that the regular wind currents from Surat Thani to Songkhla had the potential to generate some 10,000MW of electricity.

-- The Nation 2012-12-08

[Boater]

Where do they employee these nuts ? , 75,000 tourists a month ? ,

Anyway , if true , that means 2'500 a day arrive , over 3 days equals only a loss of 78,000,000 thb if all 3 days are loss

Did 75,000 people leave the island over the 3days? , unless there was some large ferries and a number of a380's .. I think not

Again , where do they come up with these crap stats ?

[dcutman]

The power grid in Thailand is not the only piece of the infrastructure that is having problems. Most urban areas dont have waste water treatment facilities. Many those that do have them they are not working properly. So there is a lot of untreated sewage (poo poo) making its way to the sea and and fresh water sources everyday.

[slapout]

The numbers bandied about are probably similar to the qualifications/background of those spouting them. When you have the math skills of a monkey, the IQ of room temp in winter, and apparent job security based on politics, we should not expect anything other than what we see/hear.

[huahinjoe]

Thermal power would work too, just look at the huge amount of trash samui generates so they will have a double catch via getting rid of the waste and they generate electricity as well. Green power is the future...

[KhunMichael]

@dcutman

What do you demand??? The impossible thing for Thais called "thinking ahead in a responsible manner"...??? If it is that, you are dreaming !!!

By the way: "...to repair the damaged cables under the advice of three foreign engineers..."WOW... not able to manage the case with own manpower. And such a kind of "bright lights" are thinking about power plants.... May God be with us.

[soomak]

Where do they employee these nuts ? , 75,000 tourists a month ? ,

Anyway , if true , that means 2'500 a day arrive , over 3 days equals only a loss of 78,000,000 thb if all 3 days are loss

Did 75,000 people leave the island over the 3days? , unless there was some large ferries and a number of a380's .. I think not

Again , where do they come up with these crap stats ?

You are right.

If a tourist spends 3,200 per day, and the loss is 1.2 billion baht, it means they will loose 375,000 tourists days...

Seems unlikely, unless this will go on for weeks.

But the reputation loss can have a long term effect, I'm sure people who heard about this may choose a different destination for their next vacation.

[khunPer]

1,2 billion loss may be far too high.

A high year number of tourists (900,000) divided with 12 give 75,000. Only around 4,000 people can get in and out by air each day (36 operations with 72 seat and 140 seat planes). However it is low season in November until mid December. Apart from those already booked to leave the island(s) by air; the correct number may more likely be maximum 2,000 leaving a day. And if all incoming tourists by air cancelled, we more likely talk about a total of 6,000 a day. So over three days (people will not leave the first day because of a power break, unknown of the situation may last several days) - or even a week - with a spending of around 3,000 bath a day, the turnover loss may be somewhere between 50 million (6,000 x 3 x 3,200 = 57,600,000) and 130 million (6,000 x 7 x 3,200 = 134,400,000). But the actual turnover loss may be less. News stories about 19,000 out of 20,000 tourists suddenly left Samui during the power break seems to be way out – that’s 95% – did you find Samui ‘empty’, drained for tourists?

The really sad story is, that it's a bank doing the calculation.

Edited December 8, 2012 by khunPer

[blundaman]

Bankster, schmucksters... another sham pain story, get a grip will ya and build some decent alternative power sources - we haff ze technology

[fred007]

Where do they employee these nuts ? , 75,000 tourists a month ? ,

Anyway , if true , that means 2'500 a day arrive , over 3 days equals only a loss of 78,000,000 thb if all 3 days are loss

Did 75,000 people leave the island over the 3days? , unless there was some large ferries and a number of a380's .. I think not

Again , where do they come up with these crap stats ?

Obviously they get the Statistics for from the Deprtment t of Crap......I do believe its one of the largest Government departments in Thailand I have it on good authority they only employ only the Best Nuts to run it

[stoffel45]

In Rhodesia,when we received the amazing upgrade to African rule in 1980, one of the first big "Improvements" were power cuts.(electrical)

The average of 2 hours went to 2 days then it was likely a 4 - 7 days until power (electrical) was restored.

We didn't lose any tourists - they just never came - but if you had food in your deep freeze or the local supermarket didn't have a power gennie - then yes - over a billion baht becomes feasible when taken into account with loss of business.

At home we set up an improvised generator. First off it was the cook and the garden boy taking turns cranking it with a bicycle - then we invested in one of the last Volvo Marine diesel gennies.

That was great - until those periods when the Government had sent all the forex out of the country into their Swiss accounts - and there was no diesel for weeks.

[MongersSyndicate]

I give so little a shit and own so little that power cuts do not significantly impact my lifestyle. Pussy, water and fresh fish on BBQ are always available, I can do a couple of days without internet and music and do not mind drinking warm beer, so...

[geriatrickid]

I give so little a shit and own so little that power cuts do not significantly impact my lifestyle. Pussy, water and fresh fish on BBQ are always available, I can do a couple of days without internet and music and do not mind drinking warm beer, so...

That's great for those that want to go "jungle" However, for an island with an economy based upon tourism, it is not a viable option. Would you pay a large part of your income to go and vacation under such circumstances?

[borabora1]

I lived and worked on this island twice...

All i can say is that the infrastructure is inappropriate... Even for many other aspect Samui and Panghan need to upgrade such as roads, and the island being monopolized by the most expensive air routes in Thailand by Bangkok air.

This proove one more time, but it is not their first major failure.

Thanks for the works that was done, and some top foreign eng were on the job, in order to avoid more delay...