Business leaders yesterday demanded compensation from authorities for firms affected by Tuesday's massive power outage, while the Energy Ministry ordered a review of the emergency decision-making process.
A family enjoys a candle-lit dinner by choice in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district Tuesday, after a blackout that lasted for several hours. VICHAYANT BOONCHOTE
Tanit Sorat, a vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), called on relevant agencies to determine the cause of the outage quickly, saying clear explanations and preventive measures would ensure business confidence.
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The blackout, which began at 5.30pm and lasted nearly four hours in some areas, affected 14 southern provinces and the business and tourism spots in Songkhla, Phuket and Surat Thani.
Officials said power was fully restored before midnight.
Mr Tanit said the economic damage of the outage is estimated at 8-10 billion baht, with factory items suffering a loss of quality. Condoms, for example, could show defects after being shipped to customers abroad.
"A loss estimate is needed for the industrial and other affected sectors, and whoever is responsible for the damage should be identified," he said.
He also recommended that an SMS emergency call centre be set up in order to prevent the public from panicking when access to government agencies is cut off.
The FTI said key industries in the South such as rubber and seafood processing were hurt by the blackout.
Songkhla and Pattani provinces were hit by a two-hour outage starting at 6.30pm, while Satun's outage lasted four hours.
Two separate blackouts were reported in Surat Thani before power was restored by midnight.
Frozen seafood makers, based mainly in Songkhla, Satun, Surat Thani, Ranong and Pattani, have their own generators, but these are insufficient to serve the production lines.
Rubber glove factories in Songkhla and Surat Thani also saw significant damage from the sudden shutdown, as they normally operate continuously over 24 hours.
"The damage to tourism remains unclear, but communicating to the public is a must in order to restore confidence," added Mr Tanit.
Charoen Wangananont, secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said the cost of the two-hour blackout in Phangnga and Phuket provinces was minimal.
Even so, he said the government must ensure the problem does not recur, as that would erode tourists' confidence.
Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal has ordered utilities and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to review the decision-making process during the outage.
"I have instructed the authorities to make it clear which processes must be taken in order to prevent this incident from happening again," said Mr Pongsak.
The ERC, meanwhile, is considering the possibility of offering compensation in the form of adjusted fuel tariffs.
Thana Putarungsi, deputy governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, said one cause of the outage was the maintenance shutdown of the Khanom and Bang Lang power plants with a combined capacity of 562 megawatts.
Power consumption in the South peaked at 2,200 MW on Tuesday. Southern power plants have a combined capacity of 1,600 MW, with the rest supplied by generators in central Thailand.
Thawee Piyapatana, the president of Pacific Fish Processing Co and an FTI vice-chairman, said the blackout clearly showed power supply in the South is inadequate and that the state should find ways to develop more supply.
"The government must educate local people about technology with minimal environmental impact so power plants can be built in the South," he said.