The agency will also be asked to find other ways to relieve the island's water shortages, by increasing its capacity to produce water or building more weirs in the Wim Pa Yai area, for example.

The island's four water plants currently produce 6 million cubic metres of plain water per year, using the reverse osmosis system. Their combined full capacity is 10 million cubic metres a year.

Every year, about 3 million tourists visit Koh Samui and the figure is increasing. Due mainly to this increase, a higher demand for plain water on the island will cause a shortage by 2012, said Suvit.

"I will also talk with related agencies about the pipeline project, and will propose its approval by the Cabinet," he added.

The recently appointed governor of the TAT, Pornsiri Manoharn, said international tourist arrivals would increase this year because some airlines, such as Air Macau and Dragon Air, are resuming flights into Phuket.

In addition, the TAT plans to conduct road shows abroad, beginning in Asia this month and next month, in the United States in March and in the Middle East later in the year. Pornsiri said the TAT would promote Bangkok as one of the top three most popular capitals in the world and create new tourism products and services.

Reports reaching the authority say very few tourists have cancelled trips to Thailand following the New Year's Eve bomb explosions in Bangkok. Most of them are individual and incentive tourists, so they have no plans to seek other destinations.

Suvit said the Tourism and Sports Ministry would be reshuffled over the next two years by dividing its two main bodies - tourism and sport - into six departments and four state enterprises.

The six departments will be responsible for tourism and services development, private sector development, sports, and creativity. They will also include a sports academy and a physical science academy. - Suchat Sritama, The Nation