Koh Samui, a well-liked tourist resort island in Surat Thani province, is grappling with a major water disaster as declining rainfall and amplified water demands take their toll.
Many of the water reserves on the island, such as the district’s Phru Na Mueang and Phru Krajud reservoirs, along with the renowned Hin Lard waterfall, have seen their water levels drop significantly, indicative of a severe water crisis. This dip has disrupted clear water manufacturing, as the whole quantity of freshwater obtainable continues to dwindle.
Presently, amid the continuing water disaster, the island’s native freshwater reserves are deemed adequate for its residents’ needs for just a mere 30 days. The scarcity has also began wreaking havoc on the region’s thriving tourism business.
According to Ratchaporn Poonsawat, the chair of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, the escalating dearth may force the hand of tourism business owners to buy freshwater, leading to a surge in operation prices. He said…
“The mounting costs associated with the shortage could also adversely have an result on the livelihood of hospitality employees on the island. If water supplies proceed to deplete, these hard-working individuals may be forced to bear greater living prices.”
As the water crisis intensifies, the longer term looks even more unsure, with a projected rise in costs expected as assets proceed to deplete, exacerbated by the El Nino phenomenon leading to further rainfall shortages.
Ratchaporn also voiced issues concerning the drought’s impending impact on the island’s tourism sector this coming month and the next, coinciding with the beginning of the much-awaited excessive season in the latter half of the current yr.
In the previous 5 months, the well-known vacationer island has hosted at least one million worldwide visitors amidst the current water disaster. Expert of water has additionally intruded upon the on a regular basis lives of locals. Residents report that irregular tap water move leads them to pay between 250 to 300 baht to obtain round 2,000 litres of water for every day usage, reported Bangkok Post.
Prateep Kusolwattana, the director-general of Provincial Waterworks Authority 4, revealed that the water supply stations located in the Phru Na Muang reservoir and Hin Lard waterfall have been producing 15,000 cubic metres of freshwater day by day for consumption on the island.
To tackle the water disaster problem, the Authority aims to provide an extra 24,000 cubic metres of water from Surat Thani on the mainland via an underwater pipeline to Koh Samui..