January 29, 20224:48 PM GMT+1Last Updated an hour ago
Thai beach declared disaster area after oil spill
Reuters
2 minute read

BANGKOK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - A beach in eastern Thailand was declared a disaster area on Saturday as oil leaking from an underwater pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand continued to wash ashore and blacken the sand.

The leak from the pipeline owned by Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Limited (SPRC) (SPRC.BK) started late on Tuesday and was brought under control a day later after spilling an estimated 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons) of oil into the ocean 20 km (12 miles) from the country's industrialised eastern seaboard. read more

Some of the oil reached the shoreline at Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong province late on Friday after spreading over 47 sq km (18 sq miles) of sea in the gulf.

The navy is working with SPRC to contain the leak and said the main oil mass was still offshore with only a small amount washing up on at least two spots along the 12-km-long beach.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 022-01-29/

This is quite massive, we are talking a huge fuck up here that will ruin the Eastern Seaboard coastline.

Will the oil spill be contained in the area, or with the tides will it move? Is it possible it could contaminate the Cambodian shoreline?

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:35 am This is quite massive, we are talking a huge fuck up here that will ruin the Eastern Seaboard coastline.

AndyKK wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 2:02 am Will the oil spill be contained in the area, or with the tides will it move? Is it possible it could contaminate the Cambodian shoreline?

As oil spills go it’s pretty small (BPs Deepwater horizon leaked 134 million gallons) so hopefully it won’t have much of an impact on sea and air creatures.

The tourism industry is also affected.

Oil spill 'nail in the coffin' for pandemic-hit Thai beach businesses
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/th ... ch-2467996

Marine scientist Thon Thamrongnawasawat said the oil slick is expected to continue to wash up on shore over the coming days due to stronger wind.

People should "definitely avoid" swimming in affected areas, Thon said in a Facebook post.

For struggling resorts and tourism-dependent businesses at Mae Ram Phueng Beach and the surrounding area, the pollution and lack of swimmers could spell disaster for livelihoods.

"There have been fewer customers because of COVID-19 and the lethargic economy and now the oil spill is like a nail in the coffin," said Korn Thongpiijit, 45, who manages Barnsabhaisabai Resort which is situated right where authorities have set up a clean-up operation.

"We already reduced accommodation prices by 50 per cent because of COVID-19 for survival."

Bhorn, the owner of a nearby seafood restaurant said most of her wild-caught produce came from local fishermen and already customers were phoning up worried about the situation.

"Our income has dwindled by more than 50 per cent since COVID-19 started," she told AFP, adding she is waiting to assess the impact.

AndyKK wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 2:02 am Will the oil spill be contained in the area, or with the tides will it move? Is it possible it could contaminate the Cambodian shoreline?

This has the potential to be devastating for the parts of the marine environment and coastline that will be affected.

Thank the Stars, the prevailing winds are from the North-East quarter at this time of year (winter/dry season), so Thailand will cop the brunt.
If it was monsoon time (summer) it could have been a disaster for parts of the Cambodian coast - for a lot of different things.

The gulf current however, flows in a clockwise direction in winter, (and reverses in the SW monsoon /summer) so there is definitely the possibility that some water-borne pollutants could affect our coastal waters - given the location of the spill.

Imo the dangers that the offshore oil industry pose to the marine environment in the Gulf are increasing, and serious.
ie, The uncounted number of uncapped wells and abandoned infrastructure alone, blows away any ethical/environmental credibility that the industry self-proclaims. They get away with whatever the can.
PPT (Thailand's oil/gas giant) and Chevron being amongst the biggest offenders.

NB; Comparing this to the Global Horizon spill is pretty meaningless. The Gulf of Thailand is a much more contained system.
Sure, this spill is much smaller than the world's biggest, but nevertheless... (see first sentence of this post)

I worked in the industry down there and SPRC were one of our biggest clients. i personally wouldn't dip my toes in the water anywhere in that area in normal times due to the chemical waste that finds its way into the sea from the major plants, the negative health effects are well documented, birth defects etc. I have no doubt the scale of this incident is being low balled at this stage, as is the way.

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:09 am I worked in the industry down there and SPRC were one of our biggest clients. i personally wouldn't dip my toes in the water anywhere in that area in normal times due to the chemical waste that finds its way into the sea from the major plants, the negative health effects are well documented, birth defects etc. I have no doubt the scale of this incident is being low balled at this stage, as is the way.

I spent quite a lot of time around the area of Rayong about 15 years back and I never once dipped a toe in the water ether, good information on the chemical waste, has there ever been any company held responsible for such? I imagine that some chemicals would go undetected, not always showing such has an oil spill.