Thai Ecosystem and Tourism in Danger due to Oil Spills

Bangkok, Jul 30 (Prensa Latina) A powerful petrochemical company of Thailand is facing today legal actions for oil spills that jeopardize beaches of the flourishing tourist sector of this country.

PTT Global Chemical company is the object of hard criticism after the spillage of crude oil coming from extraction platforms in Thailand Gulf, near fishing areas and a popular beach resort.

Since then, the company has been working with a specialized team from Singapore to control the damage caused by oil spillage, which in experts' opinion could severely harm the marine ecosystem.

Southeastern Greenpeace and Stop Global Warming Association(SGWA), two organizations settled in this capital city, asked state agencies to take legal actions and assess the damages caused by the company. They also demand PTT to reveal information about the cleaning process that already began and the chemical substances used to remove oil from the marine surface, as well as to perform a study on the platforms to prevent accidents in the future.

SGWA president, Srisuwan Janya, threatened governmental authorities to bring a lawsuit against them if they neglect the law on environmental promotion and protection that imposes payments to violators in order to compensate damages.

According to Sathit Pitutecha, governor of Rayong province, close to the oil spillage, oil slick covers 500 square meters, only 2 kilometers away from Samet island, a popular tourist place.

On the other hand, the Pollution Control Department asked PTT to collect samples of the waters to analyze its quality and the level of toxic pollution it contains.