Asia-Pacific News
Island residents protest oil exploration in Gulf of Thailand
Aug 1, 2010, 4:53 GMT
Bangkok - Thousands of Thais formed a human chain on Samui island over the weekend to protest a government concession to explore for oil 42 kilometres offshore.
Villagers, students, fishermen, tour operators, hoteliers and environmentalists lined the 52-kilometre ring road on Saturday, the Bangkok Post reported.
Some of the protestors held up posters depicting the environmental disaster caused by the explosion on a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, which has yet to be completely cleaned up.
NuCastle (Thailand), a wholly owned subsidy of the London-based Coastal Energy Company, was recently granted a license to explore for oil in a concession area off Samui island.
Fishermen vowed to block the company's activities and an ecology conservation group led by the island's governor threatened to file charges at the Administrative Court if the government refuses to review the concession by Thursday.
Petroleum firms have discovered huge reserves of natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand, but no sizeable oil reserves have been found over the past four decades of exploration.
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