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Patong's cemetery footpath meets an untimely end for tour bus parking

Patong's Beach Road Footpath Destroyed for Tour Bus Parking

Friday, October 11, 2013
PHUKET: A footpath outside Patong's Muslim cemetery on the beach road has been destroyed to make way for tour bus parking.

A Patong municipal council spokesman said today the council was ''improving the footpath to a space where tour buses can park because there is not sufficient space to park tour buses by the beach.''

It is not known whether Muslim authorities have been consulted about the new use for the footpath.

The footpath is popular with Phuket guests to walk from the resorts at the northern end of Patong's beach road to the nightlife hub of Soi Bangla.

Without the footpath on the cemetery side of the road, tourists will be forced to cross to the beach footpath - and run the risk of being hit by the motorcycles that make the walkers-only pathway dangerous.

The President of the Thai Hotels Association (Southern Division), Suchart Hirankanokkul, who owns the Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa on Patong's beach road, was surprised to hear about demolition of the footpath.

Graceland is next door to the cemetery.

''How are my guests going to walk to central Patong,'' he said. ''We need a footpath.''

Khun Suchart, who heard about the destruction of the footpath from Phuketwan, said he would look into the issue.

The Patong council officer, who preferred not to be named, said 400 square meters of space was being cleared outside the cemetery.

''This will also get rid of the vendors who set up their shops here,'' he said. The local food stalls outside the cemetery are generally regarded as the cheapest and best food in Patong.

Passengers on buses pulling up alongside the cemetery will be able to see over the outer wall.

Chinese are generally superstitious and reluctant to be close to anything associated with death. It is not known whether the feng shui for the new bus parking is positive or negative.

For years, expat and Thai residents have complained that beachfront parking intended for tourists has been taken over by motorcycle and car hire companies.

The council appears to have chosen the footpath outside the cemetery as a non-controversial patch of beach road, used only by a few pedestrians.

Once the footpath has been replaced by bus parking, tourists used to walking may be forced to catch tuk-tuks.

Elsewhere in Patong, tourists are constantly complaining that their movement along the footpath is being obstructed more and more by tailor shop salesmen and timeshare touts.

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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Not a bad idea with a place for busses, if Graceland can cater to Chineese visitors then Fengshui will probably be fine for the parking as well. I am sure that this is a well planned improvement from the Patong municipality , give them some slack and see how they sort out the access in the area for pedestrians. The food vendors sqautting there will find other places where they can do their business for free, don't worry about that. Hopefully this will make the beach road safer in the long run.

Posted by Sailor on October 11, 2013 13:20

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no one needs to walk - there are tuk tuks to call

Posted by trechima on October 11, 2013 14:03

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Odd choice of words ..destroyed. And since when was a footpath considered 'popular'? Likewise '...generally the cheapest and best food in Patong. If one of my fist year students produced this I would suggest they do it again, replace the rhetoric with facts. A reader yearns for intuitive journalism not judgmental hearsay. Chinese people don't like to be near death. Why not come straight out with it and say although they make a good stir fry.

Posted by gee on October 11, 2013 14:55

Editor Comment:

Do your ''fist year'' students learn boxing, or are they taught how to waste time and energy by annoying others online? Most journalists yearn for intelligent readers who have something of value to add, not serial pests.

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This is not about the tour bus parking, BUT to get rid of the local food stalls outside the cemetery who are generally regarded as the cheapest and best food in Patong.

Posted by RobinS on October 11, 2013 17:46

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Footpath destroyed, great not much to do in a natural way in Patong or Phuket anyway.

Posted by Harald on October 11, 2013 18:34

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Footpaths are rare so this is quite simply desecration of something that scarcely exists in Phuket (or Bangkok).

Posted by Logic on October 12, 2013 03:50

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You couldn't walk on that path anyway because of all the scruffy foodstalls selling "the best and cheapest food in Patong" (you have to be kidding!).
It's a good idea. Patong is choked up with these buses. They need somewhere to park.

Posted by jimbo on October 12, 2013 11:50

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Beach footpath is right opposite Graceland. Zebra crossing and intermittent lights need to be implemented for pedestrian safety while crossing the road. Buses can finally park and the so called "cheapest and best local food stall in Patong" will move to the beach footpath.

Posted by paul on October 12, 2013 12:33

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@Paul, from your comment you have only just arrived on Phuket, so I'll give you some advise, that may save your life...zebra crossings and pedestrian lights are totally ignored, in fact they give tourists a false sense of security. As for "intermittent" lights, I have no idea what you mean.

Posted by DSI Watcher on October 12, 2013 16:55

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No need to worry for pedestrians, they are protected by the traffic law, here a translation of section 32..;-)

Section 32
[The driver shall be careful not to hit pedestrians, and may use the horn if necessary. The driver shall be especially careful with children, elderly persons and disabled persons.]

Posted by Sailor on October 12, 2013 21:51


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