PHUKET: ALL resorts and restaurants on Racha island have signed an environmental accord that Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong believes has the potential to solve the pollution problems there.

''Five months of talking have provided agreement on a road map,'' he said yesterday. ''The island's environmental issues can be solved cooperatively.''

Even the most recalcitrant resort on Racha has joined three other resorts and three restaurants in the deal that has the potential to make the island a natural paradise once more.

Included in the MoU, signed yesterday and witnessed by a large number of Phuket offiicals are declarations:

.. that tourists are simply not allowed to dump garbage in the sea;

.. the mutual aim is to make sure no bad water is passed to the sea;

.. recycling of trash is to be applied by all Racha businesses;

.. Rawai council on Phuket will take care of disposing of the island's waste;

.. Racha businesses have to pay Rawai council for disposing of the garbage;

.. every business is responsible for maintaining a succession of ponds to clear water before it reaches the ocean.

Sarit Jandee, president of the Racha Island Preservation Committee, was full of praise for the agreement and said it was a great start.