PHUKET: ''Tourists like clean beaches, clean toilets and coconut trees,'' said Somsak Bunyapatipha, the owner of beachfront restaurant Pla Seafood, in Surin. Khun Somsak is unlikely to receive an argument there.

''We've planted coconut trees here, here and here,'' he said, pointing up and down the beach. Unfortunately it was through doing this that an argument did begin and came to a rather confusing and perplexing end last month.

Some time after Pla Seafood opened in 2006, Khun Somsak made the decision to build a type of wooden barrier reinforcement around and embedded within a portion of the sand in front of the restaurant to prevent the tide, when rushing back and forth, from eroding and wiping out the sand.

It was also done to strengthen the sand underneath, so that in essence, Pla Seafood could provide an unrivalled beachfront dining location.

Unrivalled perhaps because partly, and technically, to have tables and chairs or to plant trees on a beach within 50 metres of the shoreline is illegal.

''But if everybody adheres to that,'' believes Khun Somsak, ''then Phuket beaches would have nothing. Everybody would have to remove everything. All the houses in Bang Tao for example (are an encroachment on that law).

''I mean legally you also can't build anything higher than 80 metres, but that goes on. In Thailand, prostitution goes on, but that's illegal.''

During an average day, the front of Pla Seafood resembles any other portion of Surin beach. But from about 5pm onwards, the beachfront restaurant lights up.

Tables and chairs are brought out, coconut trees are illuminated with wrap-around bulbs and a mood lighting device is switched on, bathing Pla Seafood's specific section in romantic greens and purples.

Maintaining the facilities comes at a cost and at the times when the sea is at its roughest, there are 15-20 people working on a daily basis repairing and strengthening the wood, the owners say.

By moonlight, the restaurant does look wonderful, and all artificial add-ons are tasteful and work in harmony with the natural environment.

Despite that, it was two months ago that Khun Somsak's worries began. ''The Orbortor [local council] contacted me and then came down, unfortunately on that day the sea was particularly strong and the wooden sticks were visible.

''They told me that it wasn't legal and that I had two weeks to remove everything; the coconut trees, the wooden sticks in the ground, everything. They even put up a sign in our restaurant that said it wasn't a legal structure.''

Thankfully for Pla Seafood though, Khun Somsak had some knowledge of the rather confusing 'set up' of Phuket politics and decided to pay a visit to the Amphur [Thalang council].

''We went to the [Thalang] Amphur to explain the situation, and the Amphur is above the Orbortor (in the hierarchical political level sense) and they came and said it was okay. So they wrote a letter to the Orbortor to tell them to cancel all their plans.''

Now the sign is no more, the deadline for removing everything has passed and Khun Somsak hopes that the situation has been resolved for good.

Rather poignantly, a day after the removal deadline, Pla Seafood entertained over 300 guests, to prove that the chairs, the lights and indeed coconut trees were not only good for business, but tourism as a whole.

Khun Somsak said: ''Some restaurants are jealous sure, because they don't have as many customers or the money to do what we do, although there is another beach club that has done a similar thing and built an actual wooden walkway to allow their guests to get closer to the beach.

''But none of these restaurants complained to the Orbortor,'' Khun Somsak believes, ''I know who it was: a disgruntled ex-employee and friend. We planted the most recent row of coconut trees a few months ago and she took pictures and took them to the Orbortor and at that time, the sand was really washed away, because it was low season. This is when all the problems started.''

Khun Somsak and his daughter Pla, employ over 30 members of staff and do much for the local area, so it was with a certain level of surprise and disbelief when he first heard of the Orbortor's complaints.

''The Orbortor wanted us to the remove the wood and the trees; they don't care about the sewerage or anything like that,'' said Khun Somsak, rather incredulously, ''I clean the sewerage, I pay for this stretch of beach to have it removed. I have septic tanks that collect the overspill and I arrange for a truck to come and pick it all up.''

He also said that it was quite a regular sight in the area to see his staff collect and dispose of garbage.

''Sewerage pumping into the water and excessive garbage, these are problems that will affect tourists, not coconut trees. This is my opinion, maybe I'm wrong . . .''

Khun Somsak is also unlikely to receive an argument there. Unlikely, but not impossible.

It's been an eventful few weeks for beach-based restaurants in Phuket. Three brothers, who had been operating on Karon beach for 26 years, had their tents and kitchen bulldozed by local authorities because they were deemed to be illegal as they were without legal permits or paperwork to operate there.

Khun Somsak said that once again it was a question of money and profitability that sealed the brothers' fate.

''Many guests who stay at five-star resorts near to where the restaurants used to be, liked to eat 'local' and 'authentic' Thai food when they went out in the evening, and would often go there instead of in their hotels.''

There is little doubt that the Phuket beaches are one of the main draws for tourists, and as such any business
operating on one is one of the biggest money-spinning ventures on the island.

Their landscapes are rapidly changing, some would argue for the worse and some for the better, but only time will tell as to whether new legislation and a desire to enforce pre-existing laws will have a positive impact on Phuket as a whole.

This article first appeared in the latest issue of the Phuket Post and is republished with permission.