Koh Samet: State Petroleum Enterprise sued for resort island oil spill

[webfact]

State Petroleum Enterprise Sued For Resort Island Oil Spill

By Khaosod English


PTT Global Chemical staff during the clean-up operation of the oil spill on Koh Samet, 31 July 2013

RAYONG — Business owners on Koh Samet island are suing a state-owned petroleum enterprise for the oil spill that polluted the resort island's beaches last year.

More than 50,000 litres of crude oil leaked from pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical in July 2013 and blackened several beaches on Koh Samet island, prompting many tourists to leave the area. Others cancelled their trips to the island, resulting in a sharp drop in revenue for many businesses.

Pitsanu Khemaphan, president of the Restaurant and Hotel Association on Koh Samet, arrived at Rayong Provincial Court with his lawyer today to file a lawsuit against PTT Global Chemical for the incident, demanding 300 million baht in compensation.

The suit was co-filed by owners of Nimmanoradee Resort, Samet Cabana World Resort, and Heaven Resort, who say their businesses were severely affected by the oil spill. The case has been accepted by court officials for further procedure.

According to Mr. Pitsanu, he and other business owners decided to file the lawsuit after negotiations with PTT Global Chemical regarding financial compensation broke down.

"We have been trying to settle for an agreement with PTT, but we have not received any response," Mr. Pitsanu explained. "So we have to band together and file the lawsuit to ask for damage compensation."

He added that the statute of limitations on PTT Global Chemical's alleged offence is due to expire by 28 July 2014.

Komkai Sanguannapaporn, Mr. Pitsanu's lawyer, said PTT Global Chemical should be held responsible for business owners’ lost revenue, as well as any environmental consequences the spill has caused.

"PTT Global Chemical is the cause of the oil spill that was brought by waves to Koh Samet. It has damaged the beaches on Koh Samet and driven tourists away," Ms. Komkai said.

Following the oil spill, room bookings at local hotels and resorts on Koh Samet dropped as low as 15% of their full capacity, while health officials warn that hazardous substances associated with the oil spill were found in nearby waters.

An internal investigation blamed the incident on faulty designs in pipelines operated by PTT Global Chemical. The enterprise vowed to improve its safety standards to prevent further incidents and launched a PR blitz aimed at convincing the public to visit Koh Samet once again.

However, critics have accused the petroleum giant of using its well-funded public relations mechanism to refurbish its tainted reputation and cover up the full extent of the environmental damage caused by the spill.

There is also speculation that as a regular buyer of advertisements in a number of newspapers — including Khaosod — PTT may have persuaded many media agencies to refrain from investigating the consequences of the oil spill.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1406021579


-- Khaosod English 2014-07-22

[webfact]

KOH SAMET
Six businesses file Bt350m lawsuit against PTTGC
Achara Wisetsri
The Nation



KOH SAMET: -- Tourism operators filed a lawsuit at the Rayong Provincial Court yesterday demanding Bt350 million in compensation from PTT Global Chemical PCL (PTTGC) for the July 27, 2013, oil spill off the coast of Rayong that affected Koh Samet's Ao Phrao beach.

Pisanu Kemapun, chairman of the Rayong Hotels Association, led six Koh Samet business operators to file the case at court. He said PTTGC had initially provided remedial measures, but upon reaching the 12th remedial step, the firm asked them to sign a paper promising they would take no legal action, which the operators found unacceptable.

He said the remedial measures could not compensate for the drop in the number of tourists and the 100-per-cent booking cancellations due to the incident. Since July 28 is the deadline for the statute of limitations, the six operators decided to file a lawsuit against PTTGC.

Lawyer Khomkhai Sanguannapaporn said the businesses had no choice but to file the lawsuit in order to protect their rights and push the company to rehabilitate the island.

As nature normally rehabilitates itself in 10 years, the business operators are demanding compensation for the loss of projected income for at least five years. The group notified the Energy Ministry about initial damages worth Bt241 million and the ministry forwarded it to PTTGC, but got no response, she said.

Hence, the group decided to sue the company for Bt350 million. The Rayong Provincial Court has taken up the case and set the initial hearing for October 13.

Source: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/745072-koh-samet-state-petroleum-enterprise-sued-for-resort-island-oil-spill/


-- The Nation 2014-07-23

[doremifasol]

Ok, I have seen the faces of the volunteers

and the business owners...

When can I see those of the big shots at PPT?

[wilcopops]

interesting to see how this progresses.

i'd bet on the judge ruling against them on some technicality. Plaintiff's hair was untidy...something like that.

[lostmebike]

Well let's just hope the people of Samet island are successful with their lawsuit.

It's about time 'big business' here in Thailand started to answer for some of their mistakes.

Now with the army 'cleaning' the country, hopefully we'll see just how serious they are with anti corruption and former politicians best friends in these big corporations.

'There is also speculation that as a regular buyer of advertisements in a number of newspapers — including Khaosod — PTT may have persuaded many media agencies to refrain from investigating the consequences of the oil spill'

This is exactly the sort of thing that needs to be eradicated. C'mon NCPO, get involved, show the 'average Joes' and the rest of the world that money won't always rule over the lives of normal folk (wishful thinking???)

'The group notified the Energy Ministry about initial damages worth Bt241 million and the ministry forwarded it to PTTGC, but got no response, she said.'

Any surprise there???

[ingvar]

Strange that the statute of limitations is so short? Other question is why no criminal investigation and subsequent prosecution?

And if they are bringing a lawsuit to court I, (Note: I am not a lawyer) I suppose this would be civil court action? Then would there be statute of limitations? And if they win the case what obligates PTT to follow the court decision?

[Dr Bruce]

Ao Phrao beach is in the middle of Koh Samet National park and is owned by some very powerful people (recently even more powerful).

This could be interesting. PTT has been "cleaned out" by the Junta and now has chosen people involved with the board. Ao Phroa resort in built on national park land which the Junta has been very forceful in clearing in Phucket. This is all happening in the heartland of The Eastern Tigers.

I will be watching the censored news with interest.

[exalll]

Ao Phrao beach is in the middle of Koh Samet National park and is owned by some very powerful people (recently even more powerful).

This could be interesting. PTT has been "cleaned out" by the Junta and now has chosen people involved with the board. Ao Phroa resort in built on national park land which the Junta has been very forceful in clearing in Phucket. This is all happening in the heartland of The Eastern Tigers.

I will be watching the censored news with interest.

My thought exactly. While I love the idea of an all-powerful state enterprise being brought to earth, if the resorts are illegal (not sure if they are or not), then I hope to see them prosecuted too!

[lostsoul49]

As much as I agree that the big Corps ought to be held accountable for the negative impacts they have on the environment.

I have to admit that 6 businesses are trying to screw around 60 million baht each from the company, when there is very little chance that is what they lost in revenue.

I mean wasn't the place cleaned up in a few weeks? So they are claiming to have lost (at average 2000 baht per night) 30,000 room bookings each?.... I highly doubt it

Methinks They could be exploiting this incident for profit and personal greed.

I hope the judges order a bit of scrutiny into their books and past revenues to determine the real losses, but 60 Mn baht...... no way.

[for real]

I often go to ban amphur beach and also Wongsawan.you can still see the black sand at these places.

At Ban Amphur when the tide is ut you can see where the crabs drill there holes in the sand and the walls of the craters are full of black sand

I guess this oil spill was far worse than reported.

I wonder about the 'fresh seafood' caught daily...

[phanangpete]

Thats over a million quid each and the rest, they say that bookings were down by 15% ,something dosen't equate here.

They see the chance off raking in a few quid to clear a few debts off, new Fortuna, maybe a holiday, revamp the resort.

They have no chance , but yet again so typical for here .

[belg]

if i were them, i would ask 300 million, PER YEAR

[Thai at Heart]

Are these businesses even legally operating on Samet? I thought it was a park? Maybe wrong.

PTT should compensate but if these businesses don't have the proper licenses I think they might be in trouble.

[khunken]

Thats over a million quid each and the rest, they say that bookings were down by 15% ,something dosen't equate here.

They see the chance off raking in a few quid to clear a few debts off, new Fortuna, maybe a holiday, revamp the resort.

They have no chance , but yet again so typical for here .

You need to re acquaint yourself with the OP as the hotel bookings were down to 15% of capacity. It was huge news, especially in Scandinavia where many Ko Samet tourists come from, so there is no doubt that they lost big time.

PTT is a typical huge arrogant Thai company which lied through their teeth about the spill and now is using their muscle to tell the hoteliers to get lost by failing to negotiate a half-decent deal.

They obviously think they have a chance and I wish them well.

[Emster23]

Hmmm I didn't know the resorts were built on park land and hence illegal from the get go. If this is true, seems it would be easy to prove they have no legal standing and cannot bring suit. Somewhat like if I were running a counterfeiting business I couldn't sue a supplier of the paper for not providing the right quality of paper. Or something like that. Seems if there is a department of environmental quality they could sue the firm.

[khunken]

Are these businesses even legally operating on Samet? I thought it was a park? Maybe wrong.

PTT should compensate but if these businesses don't have the proper licenses I think they might be in trouble.

Yes it is a national park but if the hotels have permission from the Department of National Parks & Wildlife then they are legit.

How that permission is obtained is another story.

[Johpa]

Yes it is a national park but if the hotels have permission from the Department of National Parks & Wildlife then they are legit.

How that permission is obtained is another story.

Private encroachment upon public lands has been endemic in the Kingdom for generations. Yes, sometimes they have a document that gives "permission" to build upon public lands. Sometimes they show up with land title deeds. In my neck of the woods up north of Chiang Mai we had the Shinawat family enchroaching upon land out in Sankampeng back in the late 1980s, Ai Chuan paid off people at the local Ampur to redraw the maps in the Mae Sa Valley, we had a banker get title deed to land that belonged to a closed school, an of course the premeire resort hotel up north was built upon public land. In the Phuket region the transfer of public land into private hands is legion, ranging from the travesty of Koh Phi Phi to the Phuket Yacht Club. But all that pales in comparison to the largest and longest land grab spanning many decades where the much of the accumulated proceeds (rents) were transferred out of the country. To briefly quote Trink: "nuff said".

[oldsailor35]

Are these businesses even legally operating on Samet? I thought it was a park? Maybe wrong.

PTT should compensate but if these businesses don't have the proper licenses I think they might be in trouble.

Yes it is a national park but if the hotels have permission from the Department of National Parks & Wildlife then they are legit.

How that permission is obtained is another story.

Surely the trail can be traced back to who and how the 'go ahead' was originally given by.

[oldsailor35]

It would be good to see just how much has been paid in taxes in the past by these businesses.

[MJP]

Hopefully the people of Samet will win and spend the money cleaning the dump up.