Overview
- Local water officials say production has fallen to about 40% of normal because of an unusually long drought linked to El Niño, forcing emergency measures this week.
- Authorities have started rotating rationing across the island after the underwater pipeline from the mainland delivered roughly 16,000 cubic meters per day against an estimated demand of about 34,000 cubic meters.
- Thailand’s Interior Ministry ordered immediate actions to raise pumped volumes and repair a damaged seawater desalination plant to restore supply.
- Many hotels and larger businesses have begun buying water delivered by tanker trucks to keep operations and guest services running during outages.
- Koh Samui has faced repeat shortages in 2023 and 2024 and the current crisis highlights a structural gap between rapid tourist-driven demand and the island’s water infrastructure that will require medium- and long-term investment.