Beaches on a well-known Thai holiday island have been blackened by an oil spill bringing fears for the impact on the tourist and fishing industries.
Despite frantic efforts by soldiers and volunteers to clean up Koh Samet, 23 kilometres south east of Bangkok, environmentalists fear the spill could be worse than is being officially admitted.
Tens of thousands of litres of crude spilled into the sea about 20 kilometres from the coast last Saturday, as it was being transferred from a tanker to a pipeline supplying a refinery.
“The natural environment of this area will not be the same for many years. This was a beautiful beach. I’m in shock,” said one young male resident.
“I believe that it took too long to contain the situation. This has had a huge effect on the local tourism. In the long run, if we don’t quickly solve this, the tourism industry will suffer,” added Anuchida Chinsiraprapa, Chairwoman of the Chamber of Commerce in Rayong province.
Worst hit was the beach at Ao Prao, or Coconut Bay, but tourists elsewhere on the island were leaving.
The beach has been declared a disaster zone.