De ramp met het BP olieplatform in de Golf van Mexico heeft duidelijk gemaakt wat de gevolgen kunnen zijn voor mens en milieu bij een ongeluk. Voor de kust van Koh Samui en Koh Tao zijn vergevorderde plannen om op 4 plaatsen naar olie te gaan boren.
Dat heeft geleid tot actie van bewoners, milieuactivisten en symphatisanten. Zij vormden een menselijke keten van 52 kilometer lang over de rondweg van het eiland en droegen spandoeken met foto’s van met olie besmeurde vogels. Ook de burgemeester en gemeenteraad hebben zich tegen de plannen gekeerd en dreigen nu met een rechtszaak. Bovendien is er een oproep uitgegaan naar premier Abhisit om de plannen te herzien.
DRAMATIC ISLAND PROTEST AGAINST EXPLORATION, COURT BATTLE THREATENED
Published: 1/08/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
SURAT THANI : Tens of thousands of protesters yesterday formed a human link around Koh Samui to show their opposition to four oil exploration projects, heralding what they say could lead to a protracted legal battle.
BLACK AND GREASY: Protesters display a photo of an oil-soaked bird, a victim of the recent massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, to show the possible adverse impact if an offshore oil exploration project near Koh Samui goes ahead.
The protesters, made up of villagers, students, environmental advocates, tourist operators and tourists, formed a human chain along the island’s 52-kilometre ring-road in a dramatic show of opposition to the energy projects, which promise millions of baht in investment money and hundreds of potential jobs.
Fishermen say they will block the exploration work if the projects go ahead.
Meanwhile, a local conservation group led by the Koh Samui mayor says the group will file charges in the Administrative Court if the government refuses to heed its demands by Thursday.
The legal battle could be based on similar principles employed by villagers in the dispute over the Map Ta Phut industrial estate.
The court could overturn the oil exploration projects just as it put on hold billions of baht worth of investment at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate for failing to comply with the charter.
The Administrative Court last year ordered the suspension of 76 industrial projects - many belonging to large companies such as PTT and the Siam Cement Group - because of the failure of state agencies to comply with Section 67 of the constitution.
Section 67 requires an independent body to screen industrial projects classified as potentially harmful to the environment and public health.
The four exploration licences - which would allow companies to explore for oil off the resort islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao - were approved after the constitution took effect, but in the absence of the independent body.
DON’T LET THEM IN: Some 30,000 locals, tourists, hotel operators and environmentalists linked hands yesterday to form a line along a 52km road around the island to protest the project. PHOTOS: NATTHITI AMPAIWAN
The court suspended the Map Ta Phut projects because the state had dragged its hands in setting up the independent body. A new temporary independent screening organisation has since been created.
At Koh Samui, the protesters yesterday joined hands as if they were building a “wall” to protect the island, which is only 42km away from one proposed oil exploration spot.
Some students pretended to be oil slick victims, blackening their clothes and bodies.
They held photos of birds and marine species coated with oil, victims of the environmental disaster caused by an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20.
The protesters are worried a similar crisis could happen here, polluting the islands and putting tourism at risk.
NuCoastal (Thailand), a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based Coastal Energy Company, holds a licence to explore for oil in the seas off Songkhla. It has now been granted permission to explore off Koh Samui.
Another three companies have been granted permission and are now carrying out environmental impact assessments, said Gulf of Thailand conservation network chairman Rammanate Jaikwang, also the Koh Samui mayor. The protest group has petitioned Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to review or cancel the projects.
Public hearings have been held, but Ruengnam Jaikwang, chairman of the hotel business association on the eastern coast, questioned their transparency, because the NuCoastal project was approved at the meetings despite protests.
Surat Thani energy official Rorya Jantarattana said oil drilling in the Gulf of Thailand has been carried out for 32 years without problems. Electricity is produced from up to 2,000 sites of the 5,000 sites explored, he said.
However, fishermen have vowed to block the exploration work if the projects go ahead, said Wanni Thaipanich, chairman of the association of tourism promotion for Koh Phangan.
A French tourist who joined the protest asked why the government had allowed oil exploration near Koh Samui.
“Nature would be affected for sure,” he said.
In July, protests forced the cancellation of a hearing into the NuCoastal project.