PHUKET: Police complained today that they are not represented in the committees designated by Phuket's Governor to oversee introduction of new Phuket beach regulations.
''Tourists are screaming, crying,'' the island's top cop, Commander Major General Pachara Boonyasit, said. ''They do not want to be told that they cannot bring their own beach chairs.
''They say the police are damaging the tourist industry in Thailand. But we have to do what your policy says.''
The commander said it was police officers who were being left to enforce the new regulations - but they were unrepresented on the committees now looking at the rules. The committees for each district include local politicians, administrators, umbrella vendors, masseuses, resort managers - but not police.
''How can it be that the police do not have a say?'' the major general asked Governor Nisit Jansomwong.
Tourists and their representatives, the honorary consuls of Phuket, have also not been consulted in the present experiment aimed at devoting 10 percent of beach space to umbrellas, mats and services.
Complaints are expected from European ambassadors who have been inundated with messages from angry tourists, complaining about what's happened on Phuket's beaches.
Today Governor Nisit said he would be away next week attending the ITB Berlin travel fair but on March 9, the first full day back on the job on Phuket, he would inspect every beach on the holiday island to make sure the new regulations have been imposed.
Earlier, Major General Pachara made the point that the 10 percent ruling was not clear-cut, and that police continued to have problems enforcing the governor's edict.
The lack of English language skills by police and lack of English by many of the veteran European tourists still bringing their own beach chairs to Patong and other beaches made enforcement difficult, he said.
Police were not keen to venture onto the beaches and looked out for what was happening from the roads - or in the case of Patong, from their motorcycles on the footpath.
In a much-criticised move, Governor Nisit has banned tourists from bringing their own beach chairs and umbrellas.
At virtually all of the world's great public beaches, swimmers are able to bring their own equipment and sit wherever they wish.
At Phuket's beaches, tourists are being forced to sit in special zones. At Patong especially, jet-ski and speedboat parasailers have taken over large stretches of what was once one of the island's finest swimming beaches.
All commercial activity was cleared from Phuket's beaches soon after the military took control in Thailand last year, restoring use of the public space to Thais and tourists.
However, in a compromise, the governor has allowed the private profit-takers to return at 10 percent of each beach - and regimented what tourists can and can't do.
The governor even believes the jet-skis and parasails have a considerable following even though polls in local newspapers consistently show the vast majority of visitors and residents want them banned.
The jet-skis and speedboats were to be phased out over seven years until the present governor's predecessors compromised and broke that promise.
Today, veteran tourists are deserting Phuket fast because they are being told what to do on the beaches they once loved.
''Tourists are screaming, crying,'' the island's top cop, Commander Major General Pachara Boonyasit, said. ''They do not want to be told that they cannot bring their own beach chairs.
''They say the police are damaging the tourist industry in Thailand. But we have to do what your policy says.''
The commander said it was police officers who were being left to enforce the new regulations - but they were unrepresented on the committees now looking at the rules. The committees for each district include local politicians, administrators, umbrella vendors, masseuses, resort managers - but not police.
''How can it be that the police do not have a say?'' the major general asked Governor Nisit Jansomwong.
Tourists and their representatives, the honorary consuls of Phuket, have also not been consulted in the present experiment aimed at devoting 10 percent of beach space to umbrellas, mats and services.
Complaints are expected from European ambassadors who have been inundated with messages from angry tourists, complaining about what's happened on Phuket's beaches.
Today Governor Nisit said he would be away next week attending the ITB Berlin travel fair but on March 9, the first full day back on the job on Phuket, he would inspect every beach on the holiday island to make sure the new regulations have been imposed.
Earlier, Major General Pachara made the point that the 10 percent ruling was not clear-cut, and that police continued to have problems enforcing the governor's edict.
The lack of English language skills by police and lack of English by many of the veteran European tourists still bringing their own beach chairs to Patong and other beaches made enforcement difficult, he said.
Police were not keen to venture onto the beaches and looked out for what was happening from the roads - or in the case of Patong, from their motorcycles on the footpath.
In a much-criticised move, Governor Nisit has banned tourists from bringing their own beach chairs and umbrellas.
At virtually all of the world's great public beaches, swimmers are able to bring their own equipment and sit wherever they wish.
At Phuket's beaches, tourists are being forced to sit in special zones. At Patong especially, jet-ski and speedboat parasailers have taken over large stretches of what was once one of the island's finest swimming beaches.
All commercial activity was cleared from Phuket's beaches soon after the military took control in Thailand last year, restoring use of the public space to Thais and tourists.
However, in a compromise, the governor has allowed the private profit-takers to return at 10 percent of each beach - and regimented what tourists can and can't do.
The governor even believes the jet-skis and parasails have a considerable following even though polls in local newspapers consistently show the vast majority of visitors and residents want them banned.
The jet-skis and speedboats were to be phased out over seven years until the present governor's predecessors compromised and broke that promise.
Today, veteran tourists are deserting Phuket fast because they are being told what to do on the beaches they once loved.
If the tourists don't abide by the rules and bring their own chairs instead of using the shade of the trees very quickly the commercial chairs and cushions will come back and we will be in the exact situation we have known for years, beach vista destroyed.
Posted by Beach defender on February 27, 2015 17:35