PHUKET: The difference between the fuss about beach chairs and other wrangles on Phuket is that the veteran tourists actually do want to take it lying down.
They want to take it lying down . . . on their own beach chairs, in the shade at Patong or Kamala.
Phuketwan reporters watched at Patong beach today as a group of patrol police rode motorcycles along the footpath, then approached tourists on beach chairs and explained that beach chairs have now been outlawed from all of the island's beaches.
Most but not all of the tourists using the beach chairs are veterans, and some say they have health problems with legs, knees and hips that prevent them from using beach mats and leave them needing beach chairs.
We spoke to tourists from Sweden, France and Germany. All of them said the police were polite and made the point that they were merely enforcing regulations.
Some of the tourists said they would not be coming back with their beach chairs tomorrow after today's police warning . . . and others said they would be returning to their regular spots at Patong beach in defiance of the warnings.
Further north at Kamala beach, a group of tourists went to the local police station to ask what was happening.
On Patong, a Swedish woman told Phuketwan that her 75-year-old uncle was recovering from a hip operation and could not lower himself onto a beach mat. Or rather, she said he could lower himself onto a beach mat - but that he would then be unable to get up again.
''The police told us 'Today you can have a chair. But tomorrow, the chairs must go.' We will come back with the chairs tomorrow. Police can take them if they want.''
An elderly Frenchman was equally disillusioned but less inclined to be defiant.
''Every year we have had a superb time on Phuket. We come for about one month each year.
''This year we discover a beach without any chairs, we discover tourists are not happy, we discover workers are not happy.
''Every day we bring our own chairs to the beach, because we are told you have to buy chairs. We rent the umbrellas. I am 74 years old, and i need my chair.
''I will not be bringing my chair to the beach tomorrow. After 19 years, it is finished. We will go somewhere else next year.''
The complete ban on beach chairs has been ordered after talks between the Royal Thai Navy, the Governor and senior police who say that it is impossible to distinguish which chairs have been hired and which have been brought to the beach by tourists, so all chairs must be banned.
It's not clear yet whether police will tomorrow also confiscate the plastic chairs being used by customers at a beach cafe on the sand or the plastic chairs being used by jet-ski operators waiting for business.
All of Phuket's public beaches were cleared of private enterprise vendors - except for jet-skis and parasailer speedboats - after the military takeover of Thailand last year.
The problems with beach chairs have only emerged since a compromise was made to restore 10 percent of each beach to vendors who can hire umbrellas and mats to tourists. The sunbeds that used to accompany the umbrellas remain forbidden.
It's believed that tourists may bring their own personal umbrellas and mats and use them outside the 10 percent hire zones.
They want to take it lying down . . . on their own beach chairs, in the shade at Patong or Kamala.
Phuketwan reporters watched at Patong beach today as a group of patrol police rode motorcycles along the footpath, then approached tourists on beach chairs and explained that beach chairs have now been outlawed from all of the island's beaches.
Most but not all of the tourists using the beach chairs are veterans, and some say they have health problems with legs, knees and hips that prevent them from using beach mats and leave them needing beach chairs.
We spoke to tourists from Sweden, France and Germany. All of them said the police were polite and made the point that they were merely enforcing regulations.
Some of the tourists said they would not be coming back with their beach chairs tomorrow after today's police warning . . . and others said they would be returning to their regular spots at Patong beach in defiance of the warnings.
Further north at Kamala beach, a group of tourists went to the local police station to ask what was happening.
On Patong, a Swedish woman told Phuketwan that her 75-year-old uncle was recovering from a hip operation and could not lower himself onto a beach mat. Or rather, she said he could lower himself onto a beach mat - but that he would then be unable to get up again.
''The police told us 'Today you can have a chair. But tomorrow, the chairs must go.' We will come back with the chairs tomorrow. Police can take them if they want.''
An elderly Frenchman was equally disillusioned but less inclined to be defiant.
''Every year we have had a superb time on Phuket. We come for about one month each year.
''This year we discover a beach without any chairs, we discover tourists are not happy, we discover workers are not happy.
''Every day we bring our own chairs to the beach, because we are told you have to buy chairs. We rent the umbrellas. I am 74 years old, and i need my chair.
''I will not be bringing my chair to the beach tomorrow. After 19 years, it is finished. We will go somewhere else next year.''
The complete ban on beach chairs has been ordered after talks between the Royal Thai Navy, the Governor and senior police who say that it is impossible to distinguish which chairs have been hired and which have been brought to the beach by tourists, so all chairs must be banned.
It's not clear yet whether police will tomorrow also confiscate the plastic chairs being used by customers at a beach cafe on the sand or the plastic chairs being used by jet-ski operators waiting for business.
All of Phuket's public beaches were cleared of private enterprise vendors - except for jet-skis and parasailer speedboats - after the military takeover of Thailand last year.
The problems with beach chairs have only emerged since a compromise was made to restore 10 percent of each beach to vendors who can hire umbrellas and mats to tourists. The sunbeds that used to accompany the umbrellas remain forbidden.
It's believed that tourists may bring their own personal umbrellas and mats and use them outside the 10 percent hire zones.
I have been coming to Phuket for 4 or 5 months for the past 5 years. Today I saw an officer telling an old woman she could not bring her chair to the beach. I asked him what he wanted us to do and he screamed "go back! Go out! You no good!" I intend to comply with his directive because I think this could get dangerous for tourists and excess.
Posted by Anonymous on February 16, 2015 17:40