PHUKET: Walls and signs declaring that public land is ''Private Property'' should be pulled down immediately, a meeting heard yesterday in discussing the future of a Phuket beachfront strip worth billions of baht.
The strip covers 187 rai and takes in large sections of Laypang and Layan beaches.
The claim that the land is public is disputed by the occupiers of one beachfront business, Tony's restaurant.
A number of other beach restaurants now operate between the five-star Banyan Tree and the former Nikki Beach Club.
It's claimed the unusual strip of public land was created by tin mining in the sea off the beach. Mining ended about 40 years ago.
Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat told the meeting at Thalang municipal offices that walls and signs claiming private ownership should be pulled down and replaced with council signs declaring the land public.
The shorefront, ignored for years, now appears to be the target of a greed rush of the type seen on Phuket when the true value of long-disused beachfront suddenly becomes apparent.
The Chief of the Thalang Land Office, Watchara Buatong, told the meeting that residents had complained about an extension by the former Nikki Beach Club, now under new management, and asked him to check the chanote property title.
A check was being made, he said.
The legality of a restaurant alongside the beach club was also being questioned, he said. The premises border a national park.
With the ban on sunbeds at more popular beach destinations such as Patong, Kamala, Surin and Nai Harn now being strictly enforced, discreet rows of sunbeds have now appeared on or near Layan beach, possibly considered to be a part of the west coast that is not often visited by enforcing officers.
A decision is expected next week in a case brought by the occupiers of two beach restaurants seeking financial compensation from Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-Ann Samran.
At the same time, some of the beach clubs on Phuket that appear to have survived the military clearance of commerce from the holiday island's beaches and foreshores are intensifying marketing campaigns.
The strip covers 187 rai and takes in large sections of Laypang and Layan beaches.
The claim that the land is public is disputed by the occupiers of one beachfront business, Tony's restaurant.
A number of other beach restaurants now operate between the five-star Banyan Tree and the former Nikki Beach Club.
It's claimed the unusual strip of public land was created by tin mining in the sea off the beach. Mining ended about 40 years ago.
Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat told the meeting at Thalang municipal offices that walls and signs claiming private ownership should be pulled down and replaced with council signs declaring the land public.
The shorefront, ignored for years, now appears to be the target of a greed rush of the type seen on Phuket when the true value of long-disused beachfront suddenly becomes apparent.
The Chief of the Thalang Land Office, Watchara Buatong, told the meeting that residents had complained about an extension by the former Nikki Beach Club, now under new management, and asked him to check the chanote property title.
A check was being made, he said.
The legality of a restaurant alongside the beach club was also being questioned, he said. The premises border a national park.
With the ban on sunbeds at more popular beach destinations such as Patong, Kamala, Surin and Nai Harn now being strictly enforced, discreet rows of sunbeds have now appeared on or near Layan beach, possibly considered to be a part of the west coast that is not often visited by enforcing officers.
A decision is expected next week in a case brought by the occupiers of two beach restaurants seeking financial compensation from Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-Ann Samran.
At the same time, some of the beach clubs on Phuket that appear to have survived the military clearance of commerce from the holiday island's beaches and foreshores are intensifying marketing campaigns.
I hope they follow all these issues up. Tony's restaurant and all the other "whack - a - mole" vendors need to be taught a severe lesson.
Posted by soapy on November 27, 2015 09:55