PATTAYA: Pattaya City is considering a business partnership with a new company to produce fresh water on Koh Lan to alleviate a severe shortage due to a rise in tourists and businesses that have followed them to the nearby island.
A possible joint investment with a new water supply partner could expand production capacity to 1,000 cubic metres of water per day to consumers on the resort island, said Pattaya Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai.
The investment would be in the form of a public-private partnership, with benefits to be shared by the city and a private operator, he added.
SET-listed Eastern Water Resources Development and Management Plc is contracted to supply water on Koh Lan until September under a three-year contract extension that the city awarded in 2021. Its water-producing plant on the island uses a reverse osmosis system that provides only 300 cubic metres a day through pipelines to clients.
Mr Manote said the volume remained far short of the daily need of between 2,000 and 3,000 cubic metres. The undersupply has compelled people on Koh Lan to purchase fresh water from the mainland at 200 baht per cubic metre, which is double the price that residents on the mainland pay, he added.
He attributed the shortage to more tourists visiting the island, which in turn has drawn new hotels and resorts, food shops and other tourism-related businesses. It receives as many as 10,000 local and foreign tourists daily, especially on long weekend holidays.