Water is getting scarce on the Thai dream island of Koh Samui. According to media reports, the reason is a persistent drought – coupled with ever-increasing demand as tourism is booming again after the corona crisis. The authorities had already announced rationing from July 1st to June: In the various regions of the island, water should only come out of the pipes alternately and daily, according to the table distributed by the local government.
In chat groups, residents complained that their faucets had been dry for days. According to the authorities, supplies will only last until the end of July at the latest. Numerous reservoirs and waterfalls are at an extremely low level, the news website “The Thaiger” recently reported and spoke of a “serious water crisis”.
Hotel operators and other workers in the tourism industry may soon be forced to buy drinking water from private providers, according to Ratchaporn Poonsawat, president of the Koh Samui Tourism Association. This would lead to an increase in operating costs, which could affect guests’ vacation costs, he said. The association fears negative consequences, especially in the main season, which is just beginning in Koh Samui.
“We’ve had almost no water in the office for a few weeks, where we don’t have a tank,” Briton Abby, who has lived on the island for several years, told the German Press Agency on Wednesday. However, most resorts and hotels have large tanks, so supplies are guaranteed by now. “The weather has been exceptionally hot and very dry for months now – even if there was some rain over the weekend,” she said. “But that wasn’t enough to solve the problem.”