Phuket's Surin Beach 'may be stripped of all businesses'

[NamKangMan]

Amazing. Tourism figures already suffering so what can they do next? Well we did the curfew ermm...Oh, let's see, how about making beaches places where you can't lay on the beach on a sunbed and get a beer!! Great stuff, I heard Vietnam has nice beaches though, and you can get lunch and a glass of wine too! And everybody here saying "quite right, if it's not legal they should go" will be the same people whining about how Thailand doesn't do enough to get tourists in... Incredible mentality of an already pretty much <removed> up country. Too bad, such a glorious country be stripped bare

I got me a big beach towel to lay on and an isky to hold my cold ones.

No problem here mate

But the Thai's don't want you to do that on THEIR beaches.

They want you pay for a sun chair and buy beer from them.

You see, the beach is not there for you to enjoy on your holiday. The beach is there for them to demand money from you to use.

A bit like almost every beach in the World then really?

Not really.

In most tourist destinations the beach is the attraction, but the money is made from the tourists "off the sand." Hotels, bars, restaurants, nightclubs etc.

Here, they make money off the sand as well, and also force you to pay money "on the sand."

Not to mention transport - "getting to the sand."

[keestha]

Sure, if you are an expat all you want is to walk with the dog on a quiet beach without chairs. But Phuket ,Thailand in general, and its inhabitants are not there for the sole purpose of optimizing your well being. One of the first questions tourists checking into my place invariably ask, is where they can find beach chairs. Tourists just expect them to be there, like in all the beach resorts they have ever known.

[jimihendrix]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

Here we go with the snobbish comments about Thai mentality...

Is Thai mentality any different from that of your home country?

If anything, I'd say that overall Thai mentality is superior. Show me a tourist area

in any of your home countries that doesn't have shysters, chiselers and cheats.

Obviously you have never been to Canada.

Mother nature has the scam monopoly in sweet home vancouver with its 11 months of rain at the beach

All in all so far so good by the Junta. For the people complaining about non-surin places, give the dudes til high season. If they accomplished this much in a month (more than ive seen in 6 years here) I am happy to give the benefit of the doubt they'll get the whole thing right. Never thought Id see the day! Just the taxis alone would have been a pigs flying scenario a few months back.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Legal or not, I thought it looked quite nice around that end of Surin Beach, but being Dumb also thought it was a private club/hotel, never realised it was public land? Does Ripping it all down really make this area more appealing to tourists and hence bring money to the area? Yes is nice to have open beaches, but some people want to use beach sunbeds and have the choice of a cool beer/drink etc... Just saying like, do not condone illegal establishments, but then here in LOS define Illegal? lol...

You condone theft of public land and the degredation of the environment so that you can have a cool drink on a beach.

Edited June 19, 2014 by LivinginKata
insult removed

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Sure, if you are an expat all you want is to walk with the dog on a quiet beach without chairs. But Phuket ,Thailand in general, and its inhabitants are not there for the sole purpose of optimizing your well being. One of the first questions tourists checking into my place invariably ask, is where they can find beach chairs. Tourists just expect them to be there, like in all the beach resorts they have ever known.

I don't expect to find chairs at a beach. I expect to find sand. If I want a lounger I can sit by a pool.

And I certainly don't expect to find chairs in a National Park.

If you want to set up chairs on a beach go buy feehold title to an Island somewhere.

Don't suggest they belong on public land you selfish <deleted>

[jimihendrix]

To the people saying you cant bring a picnic to the beach here if you're a tourist... EVERY SINGLE THAI RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD DOES TAKEAWAY. The real icing on the cake would be a reasonable amount of trash cans (that arent used for illegal dumping overflowing creating a beaver dam of toxic waste) for said takeaway (alcohol/food) to be disposed of thus preserving newly recaptured beach

[KarenBravo]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

Here we go with the snobbish comments about Thai mentality...

Is Thai mentality any different from that of your home country?

Yes, definitely.

People in my home country get prosecuted if they blatantly break the law, like occupy public land, for example..

How about your country?

[KarenBravo]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

And your comment speaks volumes about your holier-than-thou mentality towards everyone who happens to be Thai because, as always, the Farang Fantasy Factory assumes there is a single Thai mentality or a Thai way of behaving.

I suppose, given all the corruption and greed that precipitated the recent world-wide financial crisis and which continues unabated and unpunished, that that shows you the farang mentality ( yes, every last one of them) towards laws.

Oh get real. I'm talking about ordinary people, not high flying bankers.

If you think Thais have as much respect for the law as Americans and Europeans, I suggest you trade in your rosy tinted specs.

[starkey_rich]

arent there plenty of beaches in non tourist areas where the expats can go and live if they dont like the tourist trappings? maybe their tastes change as they get old?

I don't think there is any connection here with expats, simply with trying to preserve (or reclaiming) Phuket. Also tourists like beautiful beaches, there is a reason on all brochures the beaches look just like 15 or more years ago. And on the promotional photos you don't see sunloungers 5 rows deep.

True that's why T.A.T used photos of Boracay in the Philippines for one of their Ad campaigns

[Otis]

By extrapolation--

Bye Bye, Soi Eric. Soi Eric, Bye Bye. oc

[starkey_rich]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

And your comment speaks volumes about your holier-than-thou mentality towards everyone who happens to be Thai because, as always, the Farang Fantasy Factory assumes there is a single Thai mentality or a Thai way of behaving.

I suppose, given all the corruption and greed that precipitated the recent world-wide financial crisis and which continues unabated and unpunished, that that shows you the farang mentality ( yes, every last one of them) towards laws.

Thainess = stupidity and greed

[jimihendrix]

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Mayor-denounces-reports-legal-Phuket-beach-club/30873#ad-image-0

[phuketsurfer]

To the people saying you cant bring a picnic to the beach here if you're a tourist... EVERY SINGLE THAI RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD DOES TAKEAWAY. The real icing on the cake would be a reasonable amount of trash cans (that arent used for illegal dumping overflowing creating a beaver dam of toxic waste) for said takeaway (alcohol/food) to be disposed of thus preserving newly recaptured beach

You said it!!!! I agree.

And what was this that Keesta mentioned about tourists expecting beach chairs and vendors to be on the beach when they take a vacation...KEESTA????

I have been a surfer for over 30 years and when I arrived in Thailand I thought that it was very odd that all of those chairs were on the sand. It suprised me. I had only seen that before in Mainland Mexico at a few places that cater to Europeans.

[atlbravosfan]

Why not? The beach-chair people have already gone back to the wooden loungers that were banned after the tsunami as they caused so many deaths; breaking the limbs of people so that they couldn't stay afloat.

Can you elaborate on that? I never heard anything about that.

[EBlair48]

from the link today's PG;

PHUKET: In an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette, Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran this afternoon denied English-language reports in Phuket that buildings on the east side of the beachfront path at Surin Beach would be demolished.

The news comes amid a flurry of reports about the demolition of beach club structures encroaching on the sand at Surin Beach as the seven-day deadline for business operators to remove all structures from the public land expired today (story here). - See more at: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Mayor-denounces-reports-legal-Phuket-beach-club/30873#ad-image-0

PHUKET: In an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette, Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran this afternoon denied English-language reports in Phuket that buildings on the east side of the beachfront path at Surin Beach would be demolished.

The news comes amid a flurry of reports about the demolition of beach club structures encroaching on the sand at Surin Beach as the seven-day deadline for business operators to remove all structures from the public land expired today (story here). - See more at: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Mayor-denounces-reports-legal-Phuket-beach-club/30873#ad-image-0

[sscsamui]

I hope they Take all the chairs and umbrellas of Pattaya beach also...Let the people have the beach beach to use

[oldsailor35]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

Here we go with the snobbish comments about Thai mentality...

Is Thai mentality any different from that of your home country?

If anything, I'd say that overall Thai mentality is superior. Show me a tourist area

in any of your home countries that doesn't have shysters, chiselers and cheats.

The thing is that all this beachfront land ends up in the hands of the rich who then rent it back to poorer Thais for exhorbitant rates, knowing that they don't have the title to the land in the first place. No, the government has to recover the lot and stop all this rip off. I bet that these "so called" owners do not spend one bht on keeping the area clean and tidy or maintaining the roads. With them it is all take take take !

[BradinAsia]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

Here we go with the snobbish comments about Thai mentality...

Is Thai mentality any different from that of your home country?

If anything, I'd say that overall Thai mentality is superior. Show me a tourist area

in any of your home countries that doesn't have shysters, chiselers and cheats.

"If anything, I'd say that overall Thai mentality is superior." - sure. That's why Thailand is so successful on the world stage.

You are joking, right?

How successful is America on the world stage? Got caught spying on everybody, friend and foe.

How successful is the U.K. on the world stage... insert your own choice from its long list of shortcomings.

Every place has serious problems. Thailand's problems may not be the same as those in my home country,

but you know what? The problems here I can live with easier than the ones in my home country. It it wasn't

so, I'd be there and not here.

Maybe you can tell us why you're here if your home country is so superior?

[oldsailor35]

Amazing. Tourism figures already suffering so what can they do next? Well we did the curfew ermm...Oh, let's see, how about making beaches places where you can't lay on the beach on a sunbed and get a beer!! Great stuff, I heard Vietnam has nice beaches though, and you can get lunch and a glass of wine too! And everybody here saying "quite right, if it's not legal they should go" will be the same people whining about how Thailand doesn't do enough to get tourists in... Incredible mentality of an already pretty much <removed> up country. Too bad, such a glorious country be stripped bare

I got me a big beach towel to lay on and an isky to hold my cold ones.

No problem here mate

But the Thai's don't want you to do that on THEIR beaches.

They want you pay for a sun chair and buy beer from them.

You see, the beach is not there for you to enjoy on your holiday. The beach is there for them to demand money from you to use.

A bit like almost every beach in the World then really?

You really need to open your narrow mind. Go have a look at some of the beaches on the Sunshine Coast of SE Queensland.

[BradinAsia]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

Here we go with the snobbish comments about Thai mentality...

Is Thai mentality any different from that of your home country?

If anything, I'd say that overall Thai mentality is superior. Show me a tourist area

in any of your home countries that doesn't have shysters, chiselers and cheats.

The thing is that all this beachfront land ends up in the hands of the rich who then rent it back to poorer Thais for exhorbitant rates, knowing that they don't have the title to the land in the first place. No, the government has to recover the lot and stop all this rip off. I bet that these "so called" owners do not spend one bht on keeping the area clean and tidy or maintaining the roads. With them it is all take take take !

Well, it's like this, Oldsailor, illicit transfers of some beachfront property in Phuket is like a &lt;deleted&gt; Boy Scout picnic compared to

the multi-billion dollar scams on Wall Street and then the scammers being bailed out with billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

How many million homes have been foreclosed by incompetent lenders, thus destroying the lives of millions of honest citizens.

You want to talk about Thai mentality? The biggest crooks in Thailand could study crime for the next 50 years but they'd never

come close to the criminality of the U.S. government and the major U.S. corporations that the government aids and abets.

Tell me about thai mentality. But get an education first.

[oldsailor35]

Just goes to show you the Thai mentality towards laws; both officials and villagers.

Here we go with the snobbish comments about Thai mentality...

Is Thai mentality any different from that of your home country?

If anything, I'd say that overall Thai mentality is superior. Show me a tourist area

in any of your home countries that doesn't have shysters, chiselers and cheats.

The thing is that all this beachfront land ends up in the hands of the rich who then rent it back to poorer Thais for exhorbitant rates, knowing that they don't have the title to the land in the first place. No, the government has to recover the lot and stop all this rip off. I bet that these "so called" owners do not spend one bht on keeping the area clean and tidy or maintaining the roads. With them it is all take take take !

Well, it's like this, Oldsailor, illicit transfers of some beachfront property in Phuket is like a <deleted> Boy Scout picnic compared to

the multi-billion dollar scams on Wall Street and then the scammers being bailed out with billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

How many million homes have been foreclosed by incompetent lenders, thus destroying the lives of millions of honest citizens.

You want to talk about Thai mentality? The biggest crooks in Thailand could study crime for the next 50 years but they'd never

come close to the criminality of the U.S. government and the major U.S. corporations that the government aids and abets.

Tell me about thai mentality. But get an education first.

Well its like this BradinAsia !!

You not only need an education, but desperately need to learn to read. In the first instant, nowhere did i mention anything about Thai mentality AND in the second instant, i really thought that we were taking about Thailand and specifically Phuket. SO ! what in the hell has the USA got to do with beachfront land on Phuket, you silly man.

[BradinAsia]

The thing is that all this beachfront land ends up in the hands of the rich who then rent it back to poorer Thais for exhorbitant rates, knowing that they don't have the title to the land in the first place. No, the government has to recover the lot and stop all this rip off. I bet that these "so called" owners do not spend one bht on keeping the area clean and tidy or maintaining the roads. With them it is all take take take !

Well, it's like this, Oldsailor, illicit transfers of some beachfront property in Phuket is like a <deleted> Boy Scout picnic compared to

the multi-billion dollar scams on Wall Street and then the scammers being bailed out with billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

How many million homes have been foreclosed by incompetent lenders, thus destroying the lives of millions of honest citizens.

You want to talk about Thai mentality? The biggest crooks in Thailand could study crime for the next 50 years but they'd never

come close to the criminality of the U.S. government and the major U.S. corporations that the government aids and abets.

Tell me about thai mentality. But get an education first.

Well its like this BradinAsia !!

You not only need an education, but desperately need to learn to read. In the first instant, nowhere did i mention anything about Thai mentality AND in the second instant, i really thought that we were taking about Thailand and specifically Phuket. SO ! what in the hell has the USA got to do with beachfront land on Phuket, you silly man.

You may have been talking about beachfront land. I was responding to ignorant comments about Thai mentality.

If you don't share those sentiments them I should apologize. I sometimes overreact to narrow-mindedness on TV.

[Unwisemonkey]

This is a good thing. One of those beach clubs (I won't name which one) has an illegal freshwater well that was drilled. Located so close to the beach if it ever had an accident it would wreak havoc on the sea ecology in that area. I reported it to authorities through different government websites but like so many other things in Thailand those websites email addresses were not working.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

This is a good thing. One of those beach clubs (I won't name which one) has an illegal freshwater well that was drilled. Located so close to the beach if it ever had an accident it would wreak havoc on the sea ecology in that area. I reported it to authorities through different government websites but like so many other things in Thailand those websites email addresses were not working.

What ecology? The beaches on the west coast of Phuket are a biohazard.

[Ulic]

Yes I like a lounge chair, but I don't want lounge chairs three deep and no place for people who want to place a towel

on the sand. I also prefer to bring my own drinks and snacks but for those to lazy or disorganized or not wanting to there

will always be hawkers on the beach. No need for full restaurants taking up all the space and telling you you can't bring

food and drinks to the beach as they own the land. Maybe the people you give the concession to,to have a single

row of beach chairs/umbrellas can be responsible for cleaning the beach and paying for life guards. No lifeguards

on duty, no beach chairs allowed on the beach. Clear everybody out now and implement a proper plan which

takes care of everyones needs in a balanced way. One thing is for sure what it had degenerated into with no planing

was horrible. Not sure what will happen but so far the junta has been spot on in my opinion.

[kinmaew]

I miss Maem Seafood, this was a few years ago but they made great seafood and good service at Surin happy memories. My fave Phuket beach.

[Thaiready]

Amazing. Tourism figures already suffering so what can they do next? Well we did the curfew ermm...Oh, let's see, how about making beaches places where you can't lay on the beach on a sunbed and get a beer!! Great stuff, I heard Vietnam has nice beaches though, and you can get lunch and a glass of wine too! And everybody here saying "quite right, if it's not legal they should go" will be the same people whining about how Thailand doesn't do enough to get tourists in... Incredible mentality of an already pretty much f*cked up country. Too bad, such a glorious country be stripped bare

At Nai Harn you can or could buy a beer on the beach you could also cut your foot to pieces on broken beer bottles on the beach and in the water. Take 20 seconds to walk across the road for a snack or beer and please don't bring the bottles to the beach.

Vietnam is a lovely country depending on the nature of the people they will either get it right or they also will have to have a reset in the future as is happening here. Tourism down for now but when word gets out of the changes and the military rule is wound back, they will come.

I think many would agree it is special in todays world to stand with your back to the man made world and see nothing but sand, surf, reef, islands a few other people enjoying a beautiful natural resource.

That's if they don't knock down those very same restaurants on the road at Naiharn too, which is what they were talking about on Phuket Wan just yesterday. You're describing your Utopia of empty beaches, surf and reef etc. Unfortunately, other people like to lay on the beach, on a sunbed and grab a beer if they want. Most people will take a 2 week vacation and enjoy a to relax on a nice beach, be able to take a fresh water shower and eat or drink without getting a taxi to go find a restaurant that's not on the beach. Tell me, where will people go from Surin Beach to get a glass of water or lunch? Apart from the beach places there is only hotels. Even less at Layan beach. When those beach shacks go (the people that own these beaches also do pick up any bottles and cigarette ends etc) there is nowhere at all to get refreshments, either alcoholic or otherwise.

Pack a lunch and drinks in a cooler....you ever heard of a picnic.

Yes and when you're at home it's easy, grab stuff from fridge, haul the kids to the car but when on holiday and staying in a hotel room it's not so easy is it, really?

With a 7-11 on nearly every street corner...Yes very easy.

[keestha]

To the people saying you cant bring a picnic to the beach here if you're a tourist... EVERY SINGLE THAI RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD DOES TAKEAWAY. The real icing on the cake would be a reasonable amount of trash cans (that arent used for illegal dumping overflowing creating a beaver dam of toxic waste) for said takeaway (alcohol/food) to be disposed of thus preserving newly recaptured beach

You said it!!!! I agree.

And what was this that Keesta mentioned about tourists expecting beach chairs and vendors to be on the beach when they take a vacation...KEESTA????

I have been a surfer for over 30 years and when I arrived in Thailand I thought that it was very odd that all of those chairs were on the sand. It suprised me. I had only seen that before in Mainland Mexico at a few places that cater to Europeans.

Hi Surfer,

You more or less answered your own question, I took the liberty to change the font of the relevant part of your post into bold. Are you American/Canadian? Maybe you guys (possibly also Australians/New Zealanders) don't expect beach chairs. Personally, although I am European, hate beach chairs, will never visit a beach which is disgraced by their presence. But as a tourism entrepreneur catering for European tourists, I can assure you they simply expect them to be there, it is undeniably an ingrained part of the European style beach holiday culture.

Europeans (including British) are still the vast majority of the western tourists, so economically the presence of beach chairs, or at least chairs right behind the beach, is important. People should also be able to get food/drinks at least directly behind the beach.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

To the people saying you cant bring a picnic to the beach here if you're a tourist... EVERY SINGLE THAI RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD DOES TAKEAWAY. The real icing on the cake would be a reasonable amount of trash cans (that arent used for illegal dumping overflowing creating a beaver dam of toxic waste) for said takeaway (alcohol/food) to be disposed of thus preserving newly recaptured beach

You said it!!!! I agree.

And what was this that Keesta mentioned about tourists expecting beach chairs and vendors to be on the beach when they take a vacation...KEESTA????

I have been a surfer for over 30 years and when I arrived in Thailand I thought that it was very odd that all of those chairs were on the sand. It suprised me. I had only seen that before in Mainland Mexico at a few places that cater to Europeans.

Hi Surfer,

You more or less answered your own question, I took the liberty to change the font of the relevant part of your post into bold. Are you American/Canadian? Maybe you guys (possibly also Australians/New Zealanders) don't expect beach chairs. Personally, although I am European, hate beach chairs, will never visit a beach which is disgraced by their presence. But as a tourism entrepreneur catering for European tourists, I can assure you they simply expect them to be there, it is undeniably an ingrained part of the European style beach holiday culture.

Europeans (including British) are still the vast majority of the western tourists, so economically the presence of beach chairs, or at least chairs right behind the beach, is important. People should also be able to get food/drinks at least directly behind the beach.

If Europeans want a European style beach experience let them go to one of the crappy beaches in Europe. This is Phuket, and its unique selling point is that it has beautiful natural beaches (well they were once upon a time...and now perhaps in the future when the army is finished).

If they want to lay in bloody deck chairs, fine, do it at their hotel pool or some other patch of privately owned land.

There is no place whatsoever for beach chairs on public land. They are merely another form of pollution that detracts from Phukets unique selling point.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Bulldozer Dawn

[Emster23]

I think Thai people are much like people everywhere, in that they would like to make a living, and will push things up to the limit of the law. Difference between here and my home state of Oregon is that we both have laws on public beach use, but in Oregon the laws are enforced. Recall resort that put up a sea wall..... boom, down it went. Problem here is that new sheriff in town is actually enforcing the law! Almost unheard of..... glad he drew a "line in the sand" so to speak. All the apologists, pity the poor owners, etc ignore the simple fact that the law was written to protect the public land in Thailand from exploitation. It wasn't on a whim (probably), there are sound reasons for it.

I would love to see a 50% reduction in number of chairs in Jomtien. 95% are empty most of the time anyway. Have a beautiful beach people might actually enjoy looking at. And re-plant those trees that provided shade for walks along beach sidewalk... and bring back free benches that used to be every 50 meters or so. I would bet dollars to doughnuts they were cut down at behest of umbrella mafia. BS police told me reason was "crime suppression". I cheekily suggested maybe cops should actually go for walks on a beach beat......