Thai tourism authorities closed a beach on Samet Island in the Gulf of Thailand today to clean up an oil spill from an offshore pipeline leak.

“We closed off Prao Bay on Samet to tourists so authorities can clean up the water and beach,” said Chuchart Oncharoen, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) director for Rayong province.

Samet Island, about 3km off the coast of Rayong and 150km south-east of Bangkok, is a popular getaway for Thais and foreigners living in the capital. The island attracts about 1 million visitors a year.

“Prao Bay is on the west coast of Samet, but most of the island’s hotels and resorts are on the east coast, which has not been affected by the spill,” Chuchart said.

The leak sprung on Saturday in an offshore pipeline belonging to PTT Global Chemical Public Limited Company, releasing about 50,000 litres of oil into the gulf, about 20km off the coast of mainland Rayong province.

“We will take full responsibility for everything and will solve the problems as soon as possible,” PTT Global Chemical chairperson Prasert Bunsumpun said.

He predicted that it would take three days to clean up Prao Bay on Samet.

The company, with the assistance of the Thai navy, had contained much of the oil spill by Saturday evening, although portions evaded the booms.

Greenpeace South-East Asia said the spill highlighted the need for the government to end oil drilling and exploration in the gulf, a major source of revenue from fisheries and tourism.

“Drilling that puts livelihoods and our natural heritage at risk is unwarranted when measures to shift to clean, sustainable energy already exist,” said Ply Pirom, the group’s Thailand programme

manager.

Greenpeace urged PTT Global Chemical, a subsidiary of PTT PLC which is 67 percent government owned, to conduct a follow-up study on the spill’s environmental impact on marine life.

- dpa