PHUKET SISTERS are doing it for themselves at Surin beach. The thugs who beat up fruit vendor Mhaiwadee Thonglor in front of horrified tourists last week may not have realised that she and her sisters would demand justice.

One sister, Sasithorn, went with their father, Sawang, to see a Vice Governor in Phuket City yesterday. And today another sister, Baifern, joined a niece in displaying photos of two of the six men that Mhaiwadee says beat her up.

The photo was taken by - guess who - a sister on a visit to Cherng Talay police station. She wasn't even fussed when one of the men complained to police as she was taking his photo.

''If we don't get justice, we will make this photo as large as we can and stick it on a billboard at Surin with a sign saying: 'These are the thugs of Surin beach,''' Khun Baifern said.

Khun Mhaiwadee was being discharged from Mission Hospital in Phuket City this afternoon after five days that left her with a bill for 17,000 baht.

''My jaw still hurts and I still have headaches,'' she said. ''These brave men hit me with a chair and hit me hard. I believe their intention was to kill me,'' she said.

She remembers making a sale to tourists on the beach just before she was attacked. She distinctly recollects one of the men saying: ''Don't sell any fruit in this area. This area belongs to me.''

It was Khun Mhaiwadee's third day working as a vendor at Surin, a popular up-market beach where in recent years restaurants have spread onto the sand down to the high-water mark, and where jet-skis have recently come ashore for the first time.

A police officer interviewed Khun Mhaiwadee again yesterday, following a request from the Vice Governor for action.

It is believed the courts have been asked for arrest warrants for the six men who allegedly beat her up.

Khun Mhaiwadee comes from a family that lives in a village near Surin. She has 11 sisters and brothers.