CONCERN about raging high seas pounding Phuket has been echoed all along the Andaman coast, with hundreds of families forced to flee rising water for the first time in memory.

But Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban said today that the building of additional sea walls along Phuket's scenic west coast was unlikely.

Khun Chairat, on a trip to Bangkok, said that exceptional high tides lashed the coast at least once every year.

Others say that this year, the pounding that the Andaman coast has been taking is the worst that longtime residents can recall - with more to come.

Forecasters predict heavy storms over the next 48 hours, with the possibility of dangerous landslips on Phuket and in steep sections of Phang Nga and Krabi. Seas up to four metres are predicted, with fishermen and tour operators being warned not to venture out.

Severe high tides at the weekend swept sand and surf across Phuket's scenic beach road at Kalim, north of Patong, and Kamala, a few kilometres further up the coast.

The only way to prevent the roads from being damaged in future would be to build sea walls at both spots - but a sea wall of any substance would block the sea outlook. Elevating the roadway in both places would be an even more costly exercise.

Yet concerns remain that with sea levels predicted to rise and unusual weather set to become more regular, greater protection will be needed along the coast of Phuket and the entire Andaman.

Over the weekend, high tides forced more than 1000 families to evacuate their homes in the Thai-Burma border province of Ranong.

Most of the families live on islands. ''In more than 20 years, we have never seen seas like this before,'' one elderly resident was reported as saying.

On Phuket, Phuketwan readers reported spills from motorcycles as riders attempted to negotiate deep sand ''drifts'' along the coast road at Kalim.

The only swift access from Patong to the northern beach destinations of Kamala, Surin and Bang Tao is along the beach road route.