PTT oil slick spreads to Koh Samet
By English News



RAYONG, July 29 -- Oil leakage from a PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) pipeline has grown and spread onto Koh Samet's Phrao Bay in the eastern province of Rayong, with 600 metres of one of Thailand's most popular tourist-attracting beachfronts hit with sticky crude oil.

Puchong Saritdeechaikul, director of the local Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Center, said a conservation network informed the center that the oil leakage reached the Phrao Bay beach at 7pm last night.

By 10pm, 600 metres of Phrao Bay beach was oil-covered, with an oil slick 20-30 cm thick floating some 20 metres from the beach. At about 200 metres from shore, a thinner film of oil spread around the bay.

Rayong governor Vichit Chatphaisit this morning ordered agencies concerned including the local Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Center and Khao Laem Ya/Mu Ko Samet National Park to urgently clean up the beach and contain the oil slick to prevent spread to other bays.

Tourists reportedly began leaving Phrao Bay early this morning as they could not swim due to the spill.

The oil slick developed Saturday morning when approximately 50 tonnes (50,000 litres) of crude oil leaked from a PTTGC pipeline, spilling into the sea off Rayong, some 20 kilometres southeast of the Map Ta Phut industrial estate. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-07-29

How could we expect anything different? TIT and certainly the response to this oil spill was far from adequate and authorities not prepared. What a shame. MS.

Oh dear. How horrible for all the marine life. Not to mention I am due to go there in 2 weeks time

Really lovely beaches there ruin by pure incompetence, just bury your heads in the sand TIT

Pointing at the slick and wearing life jackets on land (Yes, there is a difference between a tsunami and an oil slick) won't reverse the total incompetency to prevent and deal with this problem. Just another photo op to try and save face.

Really lovely beaches there ruin by pure incompetence, just bury your heads in the sand TIT

All that's going on this week---and they are in Africa, this oil was leaking before the trip abroad.

Also is all the TAT committee that usually sit in posh hotels drumming up the next ridiculous statement, Will they be out there digging the oil slick off the beach. Guessing some will be on the Africa trip.

It was not a question of if that would ever happen but when it will happen. Now it happened sooner than later...

Do they have the right equipment to deal with this? As this is Thailand I guess they never ever expected this to happen and are not prepared...

Edited July 29, 201312 yr by zappalot

Although some sheen and particles may hit beaches, this incident could have been far worse, but the companies in that area train together for this and were prepared. Anyone with industry experience knows this spill was managed swiftly and thoroughly.

Apparently a disaster waiting to happen on Thai shores. Another subsidiary of PTT, PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) caused Australia's worst oil spill in 2009 with a leak from a drilling rig that took the company 4 months to completely contain. Let's see how they respond to fouling their own backyard, including resort beaches that many of their own executives, shareholders and their families holiday on. This should definitely draw attention to the company's poor environmental record and hopefully the government will commission an enquiry into the damage, as Australia had ordered after the Montara spill.

Interesting. With the exception of Philip, we have the usual chorus of "TIT" etc that forms the background music to ThaiVisa. One person after another saying that this event was due to incompetence (based on the apparent assumption that every bad thing that happens here is due to corruption or incompetence). I Googled the news on this spill and was unable to find anything suggesting that this event was somehow unique to Thailand or that it was a result of egregious incompetence or that it was being handled especially poorly. Unfortunately, spills happen everywhere, including industrialised nations ... just ask our American friends.

Thanks to Philip for sharing what appears to be a more informed and unbiased view...

Pointing at the slick and wearing life jackets on land (Yes, there is a difference between a tsunami and an oil slick) won't reverse the total incompetency to prevent and deal with this problem. Just another photo op to try and save face.

Synchronised police pointing has become an official trait throughout governement.

" Repeat after me ' this is an oil slick ', now which farang company can we blame ? "

That's just great!!!

Although some sheen and particles may hit beaches, this incident could have been far worse, but the companies in that area train together for this and were prepared. Anyone with industry experience knows this spill was managed swiftly and thoroughly.

WAS managed swiftly and thoroughly ????? Then how has it reached Samet ??? suppose it could have been far worse it COULD have spread to Samui HaHa

Some sheen and particles---we will see.

How could we expect anything different? TIT and certainly the response to this oil spill was far from adequate and authorities not prepared. What a shame. MS.

No, we couldn't expect anything different when, re-action is the name of the game "not pro-action"

Interesting. With the exception of Philip, we have the usual chorus of "TIT" etc that forms the background music to ThaiVisa. One person after another saying that this event was due to incompetence (based on the apparent assumption that every bad thing that happens here is due to corruption or incompetence). I Googled the news on this spill and was unable to find anything suggesting that this event was somehow unique to Thailand or that it was a result of egregious incompetence or that it was being handled especially poorly. Unfortunately, spills happen everywhere, including industrialised nations ... just ask our American friends.

Thanks to Philip for sharing what appears to be a more informed and unbiased view...

guess its because most things that go wrong here are based on incompetence so its a general assumption, but to early to blame anybody yet. Great shame but always a possibility wheres there is oil pipelines.

How they deal with it is the real test of comeptancy

Ah, we get the typical TiT bashing comments...

Now let me dig into my memory a bit and throw some spanners around:

Alaska...anyone?

Well, that's quite a long time ago...lets try this one: BP...Gulf of Mexico... Anyone?

Accidents like this happen. Everywhere in the world.. I dare say that the US of A seems to hold first spot on Cluster F__ks in this type of accidents....

Yes, it's a serious accident, but if you're only half way sincere, you'd not be driving a car and use public transport or maybe taxis to get around so less oil needs to be refined and less chance for an accident to occur...

Before anyone starts:

- I use taxi's or car-pool with my employees..

- Living oil free is impossible, but you can make a difference by using less..

Edited July 29, 201312 yr by Schuimpge

RT @tiwa: Oil has made it to shore at Koh Samed... Hope clean up happens fast. That's oil stuck to my finger. http://t.co/2NbMfj7XF8

Really lovely beaches there ruin by pure incompetence, just bury your heads in the sand TIT

All that's going on this week---and they are in Africa, this oil was leaking before the trip abroad.

Also is all the TAT committee that usually sit in posh hotels drumming up the next ridiculous statement, Will they be out there digging the oil slick off the beach. Guessing some will be on the Africa trip.

In search of those high end tourists no doubt.

The first lie starts with spreading that only 50.000 liters of Oil leaked out.

Do the maths... a 20-30 cm thick layer, that mean 200-300 liters of oil per square meter. That would mean that only there and only about 200 square meters are covered by oil, elsewhere can not be any more oil since they say that only 50.000 liters (lets say 250 liter/m2 x 200 m2=50.000 liter) hit the gulf of Thailand.

Who should believe that BS? And then some coming out claiming that everything was handled very well. Ridiculous...

Although some sheen and particles may hit beaches, this incident could have been far worse, but the companies in that area train together for this and were prepared. Anyone with industry experience knows this spill was managed swiftly and thoroughly.

I love the guys from the oil industry.

First, everything is under control.

Then, when oil spills, everything is still under control.

Usually, they are the ones using avatar with a nice mountain landscape in the back.

Just to remember how it was before they mess it up.

Any posters on Samet with pictures ??? what can't speak can't lie.

PTT will be heavily fined on top of having to pay the clean up cost, and we will no doubt be paying 1 or 2bt a litre more for petrol to pay for their incompetence!

How awful. Koh Samet is beautiful. It was the first place I went in Thailand outside of Bangkok, and it really made me fall in love with the place. I hope the companies responsible will do something!!

I'll go on top of the condo and see if the slick can be seen, will try to get some pics.

RT @tiwa: Oil has made it to shore at Koh Samed... Hope clean up happens fast. That's oil stuck to my finger. http://t.co/2NbMfj7XF8

If this pic is from Samed then the situation seems to be really bad. Anyway this pic can actually be done anywhere and does not proof anything.

A a pic with the oil in the background and the beachfront clearly visible would tell a better story...

Although some sheen and particles may hit beaches, this incident could have been far worse, but the companies in that area train together for this and were prepared. Anyone with industry experience knows this spill was managed swiftly and thoroughly.

I agree, but is the expertise there to use the equipment. This is (by my calculations) 7 to 10 thousand barrels of oil that was spilled. Not a little spill. I just hope they know what they are doing.

Interesting. With the exception of Philip, we have the usual chorus of "TIT" etc that forms the background music to ThaiVisa. One person after another saying that this event was due to incompetence (based on the apparent assumption that every bad thing that happens here is due to corruption or incompetence). I Googled the news on this spill and was unable to find anything suggesting that this event was somehow unique to Thailand or that it was a result of egregious incompetence or that it was being handled especially poorly. Unfortunately, spills happen everywhere, including industrialised nations ... just ask our American friends.

Thanks to Philip for sharing what appears to be a more informed and unbiased view...

Yes, it does happen everywhere, except where there aren't oil companies drilling and transporting oil products. They do their best to maximize profits and in some cases they did not do enough to ensure preventable damage to the environment. Please don't make excuses for these profit mongers and make it seem that this was a ":natural" occurrence. PTT and Thailand are as guilty as BP and Exxon and the USA/England/Netherlands, etc.

Although some sheen and particles may hit beaches, this incident could have been far worse, but the companies in that area train together for this and were prepared. Anyone with industry experience knows this spill was managed swiftly and thoroughly.

Can you share with us where your information came from that the spill was being properly managed swiftly and thoroughly as the information in the article points in a different direction...

Oil leakage from a PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) pipeline has grown and spread onto Koh Samet

RT @bangkokdan: Oil spill? Everything under control, as always... RT @Ekbodinpasopon: http://t.co/OfUmc5Tbvi

https://twitter.com/Ekbodinpasopon/status/361709658831998976/photo/1

Although some sheen and particles may hit beaches

If you see at the photo showing the oil below your post and above this post do you still want to stick to your story talking about "a sheen and particles"???

( https://twitter.com/Tiwa/status/361497399677562882/photo/1 )

Edited July 29, 201312 yr by zappalot