50,000 tourists flee Thai resorts as tropical storm brings 22-foot waves and heavy rain to the islands
- Tens of thousands of tourists have fled holiday islands in Thailand
- Tropical Storm Pabuk is set to bring heavy rains, wind and 22-foot waves
- It’s Thailand’s first tropical storm outside of the monsoon season for 30 years
- Pabuk is set to make landfall on Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and Koh Samui on Friday
Tens of thousands of tourists have fled some of Thailand’s most popular holiday resorts ahead of a tropical storm which is set to bring heavy rains, wind and 22-foot waves, officials said Thursday.
Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and Koh Samui have all but emptied as tourists packed onto ferries bound for the southern Thai mainland, with swimming banned and boats set to suspend services.
Local authorities estimate that up to 50,000 holidaymakers have left for the mainland before Tropical Storm Pabuk hits tomorrow night.
Red flag: Some 50,000 tourists have fled the Thai resort islands Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and Koh Samui, pictured, in a mass exodus ahead of Tropical Storm Pabuk
Pabuk, Thailand’s first tropical storm in the area outside of the monsoon season for around 30 years, is poised to batter the islands 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.
‘There will be heavy rainfall and we have to prepared for flooding or an impact on transportation,’ Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said today.
‘We are ready ourselves but if the rainfall is high we will need some time to resolve problems.’
Tourists walk down an all-but abandoned beach on Koh Samui, Thailand as a red flag indicating expected rough weather conditions and warning tourists not to go into the sea
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 65 mph but was unlikely to intensify into a full blown typhoon, according to forecasters.
Incoming: Tropical Storm Pabuk is set to make landfall on Friday
‘But we expect waves as high as five or seven metres (22ft) 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.
‘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 anounced 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.