PHUKET: Can a sand castle possibly be illegal on Phuket's freshly-cleared beaches?
Here's the latest clever attempt to beat the Governor of Phuket's rule that sunbeds are not allowed on any of the holiday island's west coast beaches: the sand castle on Patong beach that just happens to look like a sunbed.
Now if in daylight a tourist happens to reward a beach boy with 200 baht for building a great sand castle, what could possibly be wrong with that.
Throw a towel over the sand castle, plant an umbrella in the sand and - bingo - suddenly it's unbelievably comfortable, just the way it was when the sunbeds and umbrellas ruled at all Phuket beaches.
These days, sunbeds are banned entirely.
So are beach chairs, even if swimmers choose to bring their own.
So are umbrellas outside of the ''10 percent zone'' that the governor has declared should be a compromise with vendors.
Of course, there can be no rules against sand castles, can they?
A Phuketwan correspondent encountered these beauties on Patong beach last night and a beach boy emerged out of the darkness, just to make sure nobody was planning to kick down his sand castles.
''Like them?'' he said. ''We have plans to build a whole row of them.''
Actually the sand castle ensemble Phuketwan would like to see includes a small sandy table alongside the sandy sunbed.
We have a feeling that too could be arranged, for a price. Once they make their pile, that will be the end of it.
Here's the latest clever attempt to beat the Governor of Phuket's rule that sunbeds are not allowed on any of the holiday island's west coast beaches: the sand castle on Patong beach that just happens to look like a sunbed.
Now if in daylight a tourist happens to reward a beach boy with 200 baht for building a great sand castle, what could possibly be wrong with that.
Throw a towel over the sand castle, plant an umbrella in the sand and - bingo - suddenly it's unbelievably comfortable, just the way it was when the sunbeds and umbrellas ruled at all Phuket beaches.
These days, sunbeds are banned entirely.
So are beach chairs, even if swimmers choose to bring their own.
So are umbrellas outside of the ''10 percent zone'' that the governor has declared should be a compromise with vendors.
Of course, there can be no rules against sand castles, can they?
A Phuketwan correspondent encountered these beauties on Patong beach last night and a beach boy emerged out of the darkness, just to make sure nobody was planning to kick down his sand castles.
''Like them?'' he said. ''We have plans to build a whole row of them.''
Actually the sand castle ensemble Phuketwan would like to see includes a small sandy table alongside the sandy sunbed.
We have a feeling that too could be arranged, for a price. Once they make their pile, that will be the end of it.
Ha ha!
That's
- esthetic
- functional
- eco-aware and renewable
- law-abiding
solution!!
Posted by Sue on March 15, 2015 14:51