PHUKET: Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong is likely to hear in person what travel agencies and European tourists think of Phuket's beach decisions when he visits Europe next week.
The governor of Thailand's popular holiday island will be in Bangkok briefly before heading to ITB Berlin, from March 4-8. Phuket usually has a significant presence.
The concern this year is likely to be about what's happened on Phuket's beaches since the military took charge in Thailand and cleared the sands of commerce and the foreshores of illegal beach clubs and restaurants.
The governor's attempt to find a balance between the old and the new has led to an extraordinary ban on all beach chairs at Phuket's beaches - even those that the tourists bring - and a regimented plan to corral all beach umbrellas in ''10 percent zones.''
The ban on beach chairs has yet to be implemented but onlookers forsee major problems for Phuket's image if police are forced to confiscate tourists' beach chairs.
The idea of forcing swimmers who bring their own umbrellas to share the same small proportion of the beach with renters who hire out umbrellas and mats is laughable.
The local renters don't want the personal umbrellas on the beaches so plenty of sand is expected to be kicked in tourists' faces if this farcical outcome is permitted to happen.
There would be no sand kicked in faces if Phuket had not outlawed sunbeds.
The sunbeds, apparently taking the blame for all of Phuket's beach woes, have been totally banned even though the umbrellas that used to accompany them have been allowed back, along with sunbed mats. Go figure.
Governor Nisit has said that his plan will be replaced if it doesn't work but in trying to force a compromise, plenty of European tourists are likely to look for other destinations in the meantime.
The governor has also allowed semi-permanent massage salas to return to Patong beach, Phuket's most commercial and most troubled beach.
Local residents say that homeless people have taken to sleeping under the massage salas and urinating in the shrubs nearby. Ladyboy transgender katoeys are also said to be keen to make assignations at night around the massage salas because of the comfort of the flat surface.
Phuket's prime beaches - Patong, Kata, Kamala and Karon - looked magnificent when the Army and the bulldozers did their work last year. Even with small swimmers' personal umbrellas dotting the sands, the vistas remained stunning.
With the governor allowing the return of commerce and the large rented umbrellas that, unlike the personal umbrellas, remain upright and block the view, the beaches are beginning to look sordid and seedy again.
A braver administrator might would have stuck with the military's original concept and kept the sands free of private enterprise. Swimmers with their own umbrellas and beach chairs don't damage the charming picture of Phuket's beaches looking just the way they should.
The hope is that the governor returns from Europe on March 8 inspired by the concept of natural beaches adorned only by what the tourists choose to bring with them, and freed of clutter at sunset each night.
A meeting of district authorities and Phuket City municipal staffers appointed officers to oversee each of the beaches that fall under the district's control. Officials appeared underwhelmed at their new roles. It is to be hoped that photographs of police taking beach chairs from tourists on Phuket do not become a talking point at ITB Berlin.
The governor of Thailand's popular holiday island will be in Bangkok briefly before heading to ITB Berlin, from March 4-8. Phuket usually has a significant presence.
The concern this year is likely to be about what's happened on Phuket's beaches since the military took charge in Thailand and cleared the sands of commerce and the foreshores of illegal beach clubs and restaurants.
The governor's attempt to find a balance between the old and the new has led to an extraordinary ban on all beach chairs at Phuket's beaches - even those that the tourists bring - and a regimented plan to corral all beach umbrellas in ''10 percent zones.''
The ban on beach chairs has yet to be implemented but onlookers forsee major problems for Phuket's image if police are forced to confiscate tourists' beach chairs.
The idea of forcing swimmers who bring their own umbrellas to share the same small proportion of the beach with renters who hire out umbrellas and mats is laughable.
The local renters don't want the personal umbrellas on the beaches so plenty of sand is expected to be kicked in tourists' faces if this farcical outcome is permitted to happen.
There would be no sand kicked in faces if Phuket had not outlawed sunbeds.
The sunbeds, apparently taking the blame for all of Phuket's beach woes, have been totally banned even though the umbrellas that used to accompany them have been allowed back, along with sunbed mats. Go figure.
Governor Nisit has said that his plan will be replaced if it doesn't work but in trying to force a compromise, plenty of European tourists are likely to look for other destinations in the meantime.
The governor has also allowed semi-permanent massage salas to return to Patong beach, Phuket's most commercial and most troubled beach.
Local residents say that homeless people have taken to sleeping under the massage salas and urinating in the shrubs nearby. Ladyboy transgender katoeys are also said to be keen to make assignations at night around the massage salas because of the comfort of the flat surface.
Phuket's prime beaches - Patong, Kata, Kamala and Karon - looked magnificent when the Army and the bulldozers did their work last year. Even with small swimmers' personal umbrellas dotting the sands, the vistas remained stunning.
With the governor allowing the return of commerce and the large rented umbrellas that, unlike the personal umbrellas, remain upright and block the view, the beaches are beginning to look sordid and seedy again.
A braver administrator might would have stuck with the military's original concept and kept the sands free of private enterprise. Swimmers with their own umbrellas and beach chairs don't damage the charming picture of Phuket's beaches looking just the way they should.
The hope is that the governor returns from Europe on March 8 inspired by the concept of natural beaches adorned only by what the tourists choose to bring with them, and freed of clutter at sunset each night.
A meeting of district authorities and Phuket City municipal staffers appointed officers to oversee each of the beaches that fall under the district's control. Officials appeared underwhelmed at their new roles. It is to be hoped that photographs of police taking beach chairs from tourists on Phuket do not become a talking point at ITB Berlin.
Are the big business umbrellas occupying again the whole beaches or only 10 % ?
Posted by sand only on February 24, 2015 14:16
Editor Comment:
Varying proportions, mostly above 10 percent. It's easy to see what the governor has in mind - one line of umbrellas, neatly arrayed at the back of each beach. Achieving that is not easy. It may be impossible, given the way Phuket operates without enforcement.