Phuket tourist beaches warned of landslide threat
By Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation 2011-07-21
The west coast of Phuket province, known as a tourist paradise, is at risk from landslides due to land-use change and forestry, the Mineral Resources Department revealed yesterday. Kata, Karon, Patong, Kamala and Sai Khao beaches are on alert for landslides during the rainy season.
Lerdsin Raksasakulwong, director of the Mineral Resources Department's Geology Office, said the increasing presence of tourist accommodation in forest areas was the major cause of the landslide threat.
"A lot of mountainsides in Phuket province were damaged to build hotels and resorts," he said.
"These areas have experienced many landslides during the past few years but no one has talked about them as it could affect the tourism industry."
To prevent further damage to hotels and resorts in these areas, the department has tried to invite owners to join in training for landslide surveillance - but no hotel or resort owners or local people have cooperated with officials, Lerdsin added.
The department has joined with Phuket Municipal Office in using a measuring device to monitor rainfall and issue landslide warnings to local people.
"If the amount of rainfall exceeds 80 millilitres within 24 hours, that means everyone [on the west coast] would be at risk from landslides," he said.
The department found many areas, not just Phuket, are at risk from flooding and landslides during the upcoming rainy season in October.
The department's director-general Adisak Thongkhaimuk said Krabi province's Ban Ton Han village was among them. This village was hit hard by severe flooding and a massive landslide last March. More than 136 houses were destroyed and 12 people killed.
To prevent damage from landslides, Krabi provincial authorities have asked some villagers to relocate to other areas. Additionally, the department has handed a landslide-risk-zone map to provincial authorities to warn people where and when to flee from landslides.
"Landslide casualties in this area have been caused by a lack of early-warning messages," Adisak said.
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