The WSJ‘s Southeast Asia Real Time reports:
The oil spill that hit Thailand’s popular Koh Samet island appears to be moving to coastal areas of the eastern province of Rayong, threatening to worsen the impact on the Southeast Asia country’s critical tourism industry.
“The crude oil spill in the middle of the sea has an extreme impact on Thailand’s tourism,” Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Phurisrisak told reporters on Tuesday. He estimated that the damage from the oil spill to the tourism industry will be about 100 million baht or about $3.2 million.
A satellite image taken Monday evening showed a film of crude oil spill — which covers an area of about 15 kilometers, or 9.3 miles — was moving northeast of Koh Samet Island, which is about a mile away from coastal areas of Rayong province, according to data from the country’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.
Click through for a map.
There’s more from the AP, and National Geographic has some images.
The Bangkok Post also has a story and a map of the affected area, seen above.
(Image: Bangkok Post.)