Tens of thousands of tourists have fled the Thai resort islands of
Koh Phangan and Koh Tao in a mass exodus ahead of Tropical Storm Pabuk
which is set to bring heavy rains, wind and seven-meter waves, officials
said Thursday.
The islands, hugely popular with holiday-makers especially during the
peak Christmas and New Year season, have emptied out since Wednesday as
tourists packed onto ferries bound for the southern Thai mainland, with
swimming banned and boats set to suspend services.
Pabuk, Thailand's first tropical storm in the area outside of the
monsoon season for around 30 years, is poised to batter Koh Phangan and
Koh Tao as well as Koh Samui on Friday night, before cutting into the
mainland.
No official evacuation order has been given but tourists are leaving in droves.
"I think the islands are almost empty... between 30,000 to 50,000
have left since the New Year's Eve countdown parties," Krikkrai
Songthanee, Koh Phangnan district chief, told AFP.
The acting mayor of Koh Tao, one of Southeast Asia's finest diving
spots, said boats to Chumphon on the mainland were crammed with
tourists, but several thousand guests were still on the island likely to
brave the storm.
Pabuk was packing winds of 104 kilometers per hour (65 mph) but was
unlikely to intensify into a full blown typhoon, according to
forecasters.
"But we expect waves as high as five or seven meters near the eye of the
storm. Normally in the Gulf of Thailand there are only two metre high
waves," Phuwieng Prakammaintara, director general at the Thai
Meteorological Department, told reporters.
.
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"It's difficult to predict the severity of the storm so people should comply with authorities' recommendations."
On Koh Samui, the closest of the trio of islands, a Russian man
drowned on Wednesday after his family ignored warnings not to go into
the sea.
"A family of three went swimming but the strong current caught a
56-year-old man who drowned," Police Captain Boonnam Srinarat of Samui
Police told AFP.
"Island officials announced the warning and put up the red 'danger'
flags... but maybe the family did not think the situation was that
serious."
Authorities on the island said they were preparing shelters for any tourists who decide to wait out the storm.
Pabuk, which means a giant catfish in Lao, is also expected to dump
heavy rain across the south, including tourist hotspots in the Andaman
Sea such as Krabi and the southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia of
Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala.
Source - TheJakartaPost
