MARKING territory is clearly good when it defines and protects public land . . . but hey, Phuket is renown for taking things to the extreme.

And so it goes with the poles, a good idea that the governor intended to designate public property.

They planted them along roadways, where public onership is already obvious, they planted them up mountains and down mountains, they even planted them in the sand at Nai Harn beach.

Just in case there was any confusion, they planted lots and lots of red-topped poles at Nai Harn beach. The tourists scratched their heads. The beach boys scratched their heads.

Was this some kind of new warning system, with the red tops? Should we keep swimming here? Or are they going to string barbed-wire through the holes in all those poles?

Today at the local tessaban Rawai administration offices, everyone saw the slideshow of Phuket's polemania.

Local people, the mayor, the sub-district authorities and the Land Office, the Phuket Forests Office, the Marine Biology Centre, the people working at the beach and the Marine Office have been arguing for and against the poles.

Today Vice Governor Treerayut Eamtakul chaired a meeting and heard from ther pole supporters, the pole detractors, and the pole-sitters.

In what he said was a win-win for everybody, the vice-governor suggested removing some of the many eyesore poles that have been planted along Rawai roads and along the Nai Harn beachfront and around the lagoon.

More talks needed to be held to determine where the poles should go in future to let people know which land is public without detracting from the appearance of the district, he said.

''It's good that land is being protected but it's best to consider any potential down-side before acting,'' he said.