Normally you associate Thailand’s beaches and holiday resorts with emerald water and white sands, but on Saturday morning 50,000 litres of crude oil spilled from a leak in a pipeline into the Gulf of Thailand, off Rayong province.
I feel shocked and saddened to see these images of tainted, oiled sand that’s being cleaned up by rescue workers and volunteers, as well as personnel from the company that operate the pipeline, PTT Global Chemical Public Company.
These photos by photographer Roenggrit Kongmuang document the environmental disaster that led to the evacuation of tourists and closure of Ao Phrao beach on Ko Samet. The unimaginable damage that is done to the ecosystem is reason enough for me to ask the Thai government to review its energy policy and put an end to oil drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Thailand.