Big clean up day on Samui

December 1st was set aside for a mammouth clean up effort on Samui following devastating floods in November which wrecked the island’s preparations for the holiday season.

Led by Surat Thani provincial govenor Vinai Baupradit, a team of municipal officials and employees joined the clean-up activities, which included patch up work to damaged roads and bridges, removing of debris, and clearing out garbage that had blocked drainage.

The effort went a long way to restoring confidence in the island’s image, following negative publicity after 1000 tourists were trapped on the island, unable to leave due to violent storms grounding air traffic.Tourism on the island is reeling, following weeks of adverse weather that kept tourists away and flooded parts of Chaweng and other areas.

Despite being one of Thailand’s most popular islands, Samui perpetually suffers an image problem from continual negative publicity resulting from mafia elements and criminal activities on the island. A concerted effort by officials has been made this year to clean up the island’s reputation and the latest clean up day helped with appearances.

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