PHUKET: The first of 62 people who are to be charged over alleged illegal commerce on Phuket's Patong beach fronted the local police station yesterday to deny any wrongdoing.
It's understood that Prab Keesin, a prominent local businessman and son of the late mayor of Patong, Pian Keesin, is among those facing charges.
One of the beach vendors who responded to the summons to Kathu Police Station said yesterday, on condition that she not be named: ''We have done nothing wrong. I am surprised that the police are proceeding with these cases.
''Patong is not like Kata-Karon, where vendors negotiated large contracts with individual resorts.''
Coincidentally yesterday, one of the resorts named in the alleged extortions in Kata-Karon, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, became the target of a vigilante action when vendors noticed a row of sunbeds on the beach at Relax Bay, between Patong and Karon.
Photographs of the row of sunbeds were posted on Facebook. It was not immediately clear today whether the resort was claiming ownership of the sand on which the sunbeds were placed.
Guests at Le Meridien and other Phuket resorts are unhappy to not be able to lie on beach sunbeds this high season.
The clearances from the beaches were a key topic when Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong met informally at 7.45am yesterday with the island's mayors and district chiefs at the Breeze restaurant on Rang Hill in Phuket City, the second in a series of monthly gatherings aimed at inspiring consistency and cooperation.
Although the military ordered the clearing of Phuket beaches, which are public space, the council mayors oversee regulations and enforcement.
It is a task that has been poorly performed because many of the vendors are also council voters and their desire to maintain their incomes, either as wealthy sunbed owners or less wealthy vendors, has been frequently made plain since the mid-year purge.
Governor Nisit also met in private with the mayors, the district chiefs, the Royal Thai Navy and other interested authorities late yesterday afternoon, specifically about the beaches.
He is in the difficult position of not being able to please everybody, no matter what the outcome.
And jet-skis and parasailers are still operating at Patong and other beaches, legally and illegally, despite the absolute ban on other commercial activities, including the hiring of surfboards and even weddings on the sand.
Vendors have returned at some beaches and enforcement varies from beach to beach.
The governor appears to have been seriously misled in his belief that partial insurance has solved the constant and continuing problem of jet-ski scams.
Incomplete insurance has actually exacerbated the intimidation and demands for extra cash, as Phuket's honorary consuls would quickly tell the governor if the three-monthly meetings were still being held.
Fireworks are illegal on the beaches but some resorts actually encourage the noisy nightly habit. Time-share and sex show touts are another Patong problem.
The governor yesterday urged people to report any abuses of the small, cuddly slow lorises and gibbons that are misused by photo touts in Patong, Karon and some other tourist destinations
He admitted that the interpretation of the rules posed a problem for mayors but said he certainly did not want a repeat of the seizure of byo umbrellas from tourists on Surin beach last month that triggered a wave of bad publicity around the world.
Phuketwan believes that keeping the beaches clear of commerce is the right course for Phuket's long-term future, and that jet-skis and parasailers should also be banned.
The decision was made years ago to phase them out. Then came the compromises.
Keeping the beaches as natural as possible would bring Phuket into line with the neighboring Andaman provinces of Phang Nga and Krabi, where sunbeds, commercial activity and jet-skis are already banned.
It's understood that Prab Keesin, a prominent local businessman and son of the late mayor of Patong, Pian Keesin, is among those facing charges.
One of the beach vendors who responded to the summons to Kathu Police Station said yesterday, on condition that she not be named: ''We have done nothing wrong. I am surprised that the police are proceeding with these cases.
''Patong is not like Kata-Karon, where vendors negotiated large contracts with individual resorts.''
Coincidentally yesterday, one of the resorts named in the alleged extortions in Kata-Karon, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, became the target of a vigilante action when vendors noticed a row of sunbeds on the beach at Relax Bay, between Patong and Karon.
Photographs of the row of sunbeds were posted on Facebook. It was not immediately clear today whether the resort was claiming ownership of the sand on which the sunbeds were placed.
Guests at Le Meridien and other Phuket resorts are unhappy to not be able to lie on beach sunbeds this high season.
The clearances from the beaches were a key topic when Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong met informally at 7.45am yesterday with the island's mayors and district chiefs at the Breeze restaurant on Rang Hill in Phuket City, the second in a series of monthly gatherings aimed at inspiring consistency and cooperation.
Although the military ordered the clearing of Phuket beaches, which are public space, the council mayors oversee regulations and enforcement.
It is a task that has been poorly performed because many of the vendors are also council voters and their desire to maintain their incomes, either as wealthy sunbed owners or less wealthy vendors, has been frequently made plain since the mid-year purge.
Governor Nisit also met in private with the mayors, the district chiefs, the Royal Thai Navy and other interested authorities late yesterday afternoon, specifically about the beaches.
He is in the difficult position of not being able to please everybody, no matter what the outcome.
And jet-skis and parasailers are still operating at Patong and other beaches, legally and illegally, despite the absolute ban on other commercial activities, including the hiring of surfboards and even weddings on the sand.
Vendors have returned at some beaches and enforcement varies from beach to beach.
The governor appears to have been seriously misled in his belief that partial insurance has solved the constant and continuing problem of jet-ski scams.
Incomplete insurance has actually exacerbated the intimidation and demands for extra cash, as Phuket's honorary consuls would quickly tell the governor if the three-monthly meetings were still being held.
Fireworks are illegal on the beaches but some resorts actually encourage the noisy nightly habit. Time-share and sex show touts are another Patong problem.
The governor yesterday urged people to report any abuses of the small, cuddly slow lorises and gibbons that are misused by photo touts in Patong, Karon and some other tourist destinations
He admitted that the interpretation of the rules posed a problem for mayors but said he certainly did not want a repeat of the seizure of byo umbrellas from tourists on Surin beach last month that triggered a wave of bad publicity around the world.
Phuketwan believes that keeping the beaches clear of commerce is the right course for Phuket's long-term future, and that jet-skis and parasailers should also be banned.
The decision was made years ago to phase them out. Then came the compromises.
Keeping the beaches as natural as possible would bring Phuket into line with the neighboring Andaman provinces of Phang Nga and Krabi, where sunbeds, commercial activity and jet-skis are already banned.
Is it illegal if the resorts place the beds for guests and do not charge? Really is a minefield.
Posted by Davemc60 on December 10, 2014 09:16
Editor Comment:
Having been involved in a costly contractual arrangement with an alleged sunbed extortionist, the resort may have included provision of sunbeds in its packages for guests without realising the beach was not ''owned'' by locals, but by all Thais. What's OK and what's not is a matter for interpretation. There are no clear rules still, even though the perils of not having clarity are plain.