(Photo: iStock)
Phuket Island, a popular tourist destination in Thailand, has pledged to become a green island and, on Feb. 17, signed a memorandum of understanding with the listed energy group Energy Absolute (EA) to comprehensively develop green tourism.
According to the terms of the cooperation, EA will collaborate with the Federation of Thai Industries Phuket (FTI Phuket) to use hybrid solar panels to assist Phuket International Airport in carbon reduction. This includes installing charging stations at the airport and transitioning vehicles to electric cars. There are also plans to establish a joint venture with the Airports of Thailand to form "Airports Energy Absolute."
In addition to plans to install EA Anywhere electric vehicle charging stations at Phuket's transportation hubs, EA will also work with local businesses through its partner Nex Point to promote commercial and public electric vehicle services. Furthermore, they aim to develop electric tourist ferries.
EA hopes to establish Phuket as a model low-carbon tourist city on a global scale through green logistics and green energy. Somphote Ahunai, CEO of the group, intends to apply "green business platform" used in Phuket to other administrative areas to help Thailand lead in achieving carbon neutrality ahead of other countries.
Known as "Tesla of Thailand," the EA group, which specializes in electric vehicles, signed a contract with the Phuket municipal government in 2023 to invest 2 billion Thai baht (about 55 million USD) to build a waste-to-energy plant. The plant, expected to be completed and operational by 2026, will process at least 500 tons of garbage daily and generate approximately 9.9 MW of electricity.
