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PHUKET: The ''beautiful holiday island'' of Phuket is losing its battle with billboards because of lack of law enforcement, a meeting was told yesterday.
Vice Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada welcomed back Phuket's administrators to Phuket Provincial Hall with a cheery ''Hi'' after months of anti-goverment protests.
Then he proceeded to criticise everyone for failing to stop the invading billboards, large and small, from dominating Phuket's once green and pleasant landscape.
''I've been in administration for 30 years,'' he said. ''I'm a Phuket guy. ''And this issue keeps getting worse every year, not better.
''We just keep talking. So when will you use law enforcement?'' asked the man who coined the Phuketwan motto, ''Brave Enough to Change.''
''Phuket when compared to Europe has the best of everything. The best beaches. Phuket wins on every point, except law enforcement.
''Everybody in Europe follows the laws. But here? Noooo.''
He went on to describe a typical tourists' arrival at Phuket International Airport.
''You arrive, you wait for your luggage, all you see is billboards. You leave the airport terminal, all you see is billboards. You reach the three-junction, and the billboards are even bigger.
''Do you want to leave it like this? This is no way for a beautiful holiday island to look.''
Many of the billboards belong to businesses whose future depends on Phuket and the region remaining natural and appealing.
While the large billboards erected on private land are beyond official control, Vice Governor Jamleran hopes the local councils will crack down on the small roadside billboards that erupt like acne.
The action plan requires each council to designate a billboard-free stretch of road and then to report back on their experiences as they try to keep that stretch free of billboards.
Vice Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada welcomed back Phuket's administrators to Phuket Provincial Hall with a cheery ''Hi'' after months of anti-goverment protests.
Then he proceeded to criticise everyone for failing to stop the invading billboards, large and small, from dominating Phuket's once green and pleasant landscape.
''I've been in administration for 30 years,'' he said. ''I'm a Phuket guy. ''And this issue keeps getting worse every year, not better.
''We just keep talking. So when will you use law enforcement?'' asked the man who coined the Phuketwan motto, ''Brave Enough to Change.''
''Phuket when compared to Europe has the best of everything. The best beaches. Phuket wins on every point, except law enforcement.
''Everybody in Europe follows the laws. But here? Noooo.''
He went on to describe a typical tourists' arrival at Phuket International Airport.
''You arrive, you wait for your luggage, all you see is billboards. You leave the airport terminal, all you see is billboards. You reach the three-junction, and the billboards are even bigger.
''Do you want to leave it like this? This is no way for a beautiful holiday island to look.''
Many of the billboards belong to businesses whose future depends on Phuket and the region remaining natural and appealing.
While the large billboards erected on private land are beyond official control, Vice Governor Jamleran hopes the local councils will crack down on the small roadside billboards that erupt like acne.
The action plan requires each council to designate a billboard-free stretch of road and then to report back on their experiences as they try to keep that stretch free of billboards.
He should be using past tense when talking about Phuket's beaches. Most beaches now have dirty water and beach loungers packed down to the waters edge.
Surin beach now has owners who hold weddings and private functions on a public beach. The same people taking back-handers to ignore the illegal billboards are probably the same people pocketing all the 'rent' money from beach encroachers.
After 30 years in administration he really knows what the real problem is - rampant corruption.
Posted by Arun Muruga on April 9, 2014 14:57