Save Phuket's Beaches: News Analysis
PHUKET: Concern for the future of Phuket's beaches is mounting as the public sands continue to be used for private enterprise.
A new threat is emerging from the ''instant beach dinner'' and ''instant dance party.'' Here's the latest message and photos from a reader:
''I just went to Kata beach this evening to watch the sunset and there's a new thing happening there (on the sands between Kata Beach Resort and The Boathouse).
''Just as the sun was going down there was suddenly a flurry of activity. A Jeep crossed the sands and parked right in the middle, a handful of guys set up a sound system and vendor stands where they laid out fish on ice and posted signs for seafood BBQ.
''Bunch of mats laid out on the sand. Never seen this before - new. One thinks if there's this one and it's successful there will be more, maybe a line of blasting bars on the sands like Phi Phi.
The guys all looked like beach boys so I imagine they're well connected with whoever controls these things.''
Who does control these things?
Phuket's most important assets, it's beaches, are being subjected to a greed attack from locals and expats who realise that nobody is really in control.
Phuketwan repeats the call for the government of Yingluck Shinawatra to create a single authority to protect Phuket's beaches from commercialism and development.
The beaches are Phuket's greatest natural asset - which is precisely why so many people want their slice.
To those people who say: ''Well, the tourists just love sitting down to dinner on the sand'' we say, where will those tourists go when Phuket's beaches are a tangle of restaurants, dance parties and illegal pontoons?
The answer: Somewhere more natural.
They will go to Krabi where you have no Jet-Skis, Banana Boats, Deck Chairs, Beach Bars or any other sort of interference on the beaches.
Even the tuk-tuks are well behaved and affordable, go figure.
As a stark contrast to Phuket, the authorities in Krabi seem to have realized that their chance is not to copycat Phuket but rather to stay the exact opposite to it.
I say it's a winning formula. The worse it gets on Phuket, the better it will be for Krabi.
Posted by Steve C. on February 5, 2012 09:40