Road to ruin
Re: "Seabed test drilling starts", (BP, Feb 11).
Exploratory drilling has started on the bridge from the mainland to Koh Samui. This is madness for so many reasons.
First, the government has always maintained that it wants upmarket tourism, not mass market. Samui is the best example of upmarket tourism largely because the Bangkok Airways monopoly on flights makes it several times more expensive to get to than any other Thai location. The bridge would open up the island to mass market traffic with cars, buses and coaches pouring onto the single-track road. Just look at the state of Phuket to see the effect of a bridge.
The second reason is there is only one major road, which runs around the coast, most of which is effectively single lane in each direction. Traffic with school pick-up and workers going home, means that most days traffic is at near walking pace around Maenam, Bophut, Bangrak and Chaweng.
The roads just cannot take a greater volume of traffic. This road already has one of the highest fatality rates per kilometre in the world! During peak season, you already have more chance of winning the lottery than finding a parking space.
Thirdly, Samui has a major garbage disposal problem and already struggles to cope with the influx of visitors. We are facing an unmanageable influx with the White Lotus programme effect. Fourthly, the water supply is inadequate, and during high season, it is common for many areas to ration or have no water.
Lastly, the same applies to the electricity supply, which is overloaded. I experience outages on an almost daily basis. I cannot see what advantages there are in destroying the only truly upmarket holiday destination in the country. It is better to spend the money developing the mainland, which has beautiful beaches and is served by an airport in Surat Thai province.
