PHUKET: Previous governors and other top officials on Phuket agreed that the provision of sunbeds and umbrellas on Phuket beaches was ''a good thing'' even though it was illegal, a meeting of Phuket authorities was told today.
About 40 beach-worker representatives from Patong, Kata, Kata Noi, Karon, Kamala, Surin and Bang Tao put the case for a more lenient approach to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong at Phuket Provincial Hall.
Charges against 12 senior members of the Karon Beach Chair Association are due to be handed by police to the Phuket prosecutor on Friday while arrest warrants for 102 members of the association remain pending, police have revealed.
Police on Phuket have already taken to court 170 other cases involving beach workers, taxi and tuk-tuk drivers and their patrons.
Representatives for the beach workers are now seeking to not only have the charges dropped but also to have the workers return to Phuket's beaches.
The Army and local councils cleared all vendors from the sands earlier this year to enforce the law banning private profit from Thailand's public beaches.
Beach workers now want leniency because they say they have been told to work more closely with resorts, but it is proving too difficult.
''On the beach a masseuse would be paid 300 baht for her work but if she does the same thing for a resort, she only sees 90 baht from the same charge,'' said one spokesperson from Karon, who wished only to be known by his nickname, Korak.
Major General Paween Pongsirin, who conducted covert police operations against the Phuket taxi drivers and beach workers before being promoted to a more senior position in Region 8, said today that he wished Governor Nisit all the best in solving Phuket's transport and beach problems.
''It remains illegal to make money from Phuket's public beaches,'' the major general said today. ''That much is quite clear.''
''My [since disbanded] team started work with the taxis in Karon then moved to Patong. We also started with the beaches in Karon and moved to Patong.
''There was more evidence involving alleged crimes in Patong but pursuit of those matters now rests with Phuket Police Commander Major General Pachara Boonyasit.''
More talks are expected this week about the future of jet-skis, parasailers and former beach vendors.
Some tourists continue to agitate for the return of the sunbeds and umbrellas that once covered several of Phuket's most popular west coast beaches.
About 40 beach-worker representatives from Patong, Kata, Kata Noi, Karon, Kamala, Surin and Bang Tao put the case for a more lenient approach to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong at Phuket Provincial Hall.
Charges against 12 senior members of the Karon Beach Chair Association are due to be handed by police to the Phuket prosecutor on Friday while arrest warrants for 102 members of the association remain pending, police have revealed.
Police on Phuket have already taken to court 170 other cases involving beach workers, taxi and tuk-tuk drivers and their patrons.
Representatives for the beach workers are now seeking to not only have the charges dropped but also to have the workers return to Phuket's beaches.
The Army and local councils cleared all vendors from the sands earlier this year to enforce the law banning private profit from Thailand's public beaches.
Beach workers now want leniency because they say they have been told to work more closely with resorts, but it is proving too difficult.
''On the beach a masseuse would be paid 300 baht for her work but if she does the same thing for a resort, she only sees 90 baht from the same charge,'' said one spokesperson from Karon, who wished only to be known by his nickname, Korak.
Major General Paween Pongsirin, who conducted covert police operations against the Phuket taxi drivers and beach workers before being promoted to a more senior position in Region 8, said today that he wished Governor Nisit all the best in solving Phuket's transport and beach problems.
''It remains illegal to make money from Phuket's public beaches,'' the major general said today. ''That much is quite clear.''
''My [since disbanded] team started work with the taxis in Karon then moved to Patong. We also started with the beaches in Karon and moved to Patong.
''There was more evidence involving alleged crimes in Patong but pursuit of those matters now rests with Phuket Police Commander Major General Pachara Boonyasit.''
More talks are expected this week about the future of jet-skis, parasailers and former beach vendors.
Some tourists continue to agitate for the return of the sunbeds and umbrellas that once covered several of Phuket's most popular west coast beaches.
They simply aren't getting the message including words like 'previous', 'past' & 'illegal'. Those years are gone. If they keep rattling on about the big money they used to earn, the taxman might start to take some interest.
Posted by Logic on November 24, 2014 12:58