Thai island
Not a drop from the tap: water is getting scarce in the holiday paradise
The authorities are taking drastic measures: there is a drinking water crisis on the holiday island of Ko Samui in the Gulf of Thailand.
Drought causes water shortages on Ko Samui
According to the authorities, the supplies will only last until the end of July at the latest. Numerous reservoirs and waterfalls are at an extremely low level, reported the news site “The Thaiger” recently and spoke of a “serious water crisis”.
Hotel operators and other tourism industry workers may soon be forced to buy fresh water from private suppliers, according to Ratchaporn Poonsawat, chairman of the Ko Samui Tourism Association. This would lead to an increase in operating costs, which could ultimately affect guests’ vacation costs, it said. The association fears negative consequences, especially in the main season, which is just starting on Ko Samui.
“We haven’t had any water in the office for a few weeks now, where we don’t have a tank,” Abby, who has lived on the island for several years, told the DPA news agency on Wednesday. However, most resorts and hotels have large tanks, so that the supply there has so far been guaranteed. “The weather has been unusually hot and very dry for months – even if it rained a little over the weekend,” she said. “But that wasn’t nearly enough to solve the problem.”