PHUKET: The Zazada Beach Club will be among buildings demolished when Surin beach is closed to the public for three days later this month, a meeting heard today.
Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-Ann Samran said that the public will not be allowed to go to the foreshore or to the beach in the three days during which a row of beach clubs and restaurants will be wrecked.
The beach closure will take place in about two weeks' time, he told today's meeting at the Phuket Provincial Administrative Authority offices, near Phuket Provincial Hall.
Mayor Ma-Ann said that he had tried last week to cut off power to the establishments, occupying public land on the Surin foreshore, but power authorities said they had a legal contract to supply electricity and could not end it on his say-so.
The area demolished will include 20 council-erected ''units'' that have long been converted to other uses as restaurants and beach clubs serving Surin's prosperous five-star customers.
Many of the tourists are not likely to appreciate the closure of the popular beach for three days in high season, or the destruction of some of the holiday island's most popular eating and entertainment venues.
Zazada was constructed just a couple of years ago at the northern end of the foreshore but it was also illegal and would come down at the same time as the council units that run along the northern end of the shorefront.
''The son of the owner of Zazada came to see me and said he was a victim of the 2004 tsunami and wanted to build on the shorefront,'' Khun Ma-Ann said.
A similar row of buildings along the southern shorefront was erected by the PPAO, the meeting heard. Some of the ''units'' there had been expanded from their original size.
While PPAO officials said they would need to check further to see whether it was ok for Mayor Ma-Ann to demolish the original ''units,'' the meeting agreed that council wreckers could go ahead and demolish the illegal extension to the original units. At least one large, expansive beach club opened just in time at the southern end for this high season.
Mayor Ma-Ann said that it was his intention to make Surin as natural as possible and to dedicate the beach to HM The King and the Queen, who visited the beach and other parts of Phuket in the 1950s.
Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat, who is overseeing the implementation of ''10 percent zones'' that would leave 90 percent of most beaches free from umbrella hire and other commerce, said that Mayor Ma-Ann's plan would mean Phuket will soon have three kinds of beaches:
.. Those such as Kata, Karon, Bang Tao, Kamala and Nai Harn where the ''10 percent zones'' hiring umbrellas and selling food and drink operate;
.. Those such as Mai Khao, Nai Thon, Freedom beach, Laypang and Nui beach declared natural ''virgin'' beaches without commerce;
.. and Surin, a beach specially dedicated to HM The King and the Queen.
With starfish and seahorse markers still being created to designate the ''10 percent zones'' it's still not entirely clear whether tourists will be able to bring their own umbrellas and chairs and sit where they like at any beach.
The island's chief of police says there is no law against visitors bringing their own equipment and sitting where they like.
But Vice Governor Chokdee says that as sunlovers with their own equipment arrive at beaches, they will be offered brochures suggesting that they go into the ''10 percent zones'' voluntarily.
The vice governor said he would help to bring together a team of 200 to carry out the three-day demolition at Surin, with a Royal Thai Navy 3 representative today saying the Navy would provide at least 40 officers.
The date for the beach's three-day closure and demolition of buildings is expected to be announced shortly, to give tourists time to make alternate plans.
Well-known beach brands likely to disappear or be partly destroyed include Catch Beach Club, Bimi, Taste, Pla and Twin Brothers.
Managers at nearby five-star resorts will once again be surprised to hear what the mayor and the vice governor have in mind.
Rates at resorts around Surin go higher at this, the most popular time of the year. Regular visitors always assume that the nearby beach will be available for them to use.
It's the first time anyone has suggested closing Surin beach since a controversial plan by a private firm to hold a ticketted two-day New Year concert a few years ago.
Reports by Phuketwan helped to persuade authorities that it was not the right beach for a long party. The concert was moved to Patong where it was not the roaring success that organisers had anticipated.
The military cleared all commerce from Phuket's public beaches last year and would not permit a similar venture for private profit.
Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-Ann Samran said that the public will not be allowed to go to the foreshore or to the beach in the three days during which a row of beach clubs and restaurants will be wrecked.
The beach closure will take place in about two weeks' time, he told today's meeting at the Phuket Provincial Administrative Authority offices, near Phuket Provincial Hall.
Mayor Ma-Ann said that he had tried last week to cut off power to the establishments, occupying public land on the Surin foreshore, but power authorities said they had a legal contract to supply electricity and could not end it on his say-so.
The area demolished will include 20 council-erected ''units'' that have long been converted to other uses as restaurants and beach clubs serving Surin's prosperous five-star customers.
Many of the tourists are not likely to appreciate the closure of the popular beach for three days in high season, or the destruction of some of the holiday island's most popular eating and entertainment venues.
Zazada was constructed just a couple of years ago at the northern end of the foreshore but it was also illegal and would come down at the same time as the council units that run along the northern end of the shorefront.
''The son of the owner of Zazada came to see me and said he was a victim of the 2004 tsunami and wanted to build on the shorefront,'' Khun Ma-Ann said.
A similar row of buildings along the southern shorefront was erected by the PPAO, the meeting heard. Some of the ''units'' there had been expanded from their original size.
While PPAO officials said they would need to check further to see whether it was ok for Mayor Ma-Ann to demolish the original ''units,'' the meeting agreed that council wreckers could go ahead and demolish the illegal extension to the original units. At least one large, expansive beach club opened just in time at the southern end for this high season.
Mayor Ma-Ann said that it was his intention to make Surin as natural as possible and to dedicate the beach to HM The King and the Queen, who visited the beach and other parts of Phuket in the 1950s.
Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat, who is overseeing the implementation of ''10 percent zones'' that would leave 90 percent of most beaches free from umbrella hire and other commerce, said that Mayor Ma-Ann's plan would mean Phuket will soon have three kinds of beaches:
.. Those such as Kata, Karon, Bang Tao, Kamala and Nai Harn where the ''10 percent zones'' hiring umbrellas and selling food and drink operate;
.. Those such as Mai Khao, Nai Thon, Freedom beach, Laypang and Nui beach declared natural ''virgin'' beaches without commerce;
.. and Surin, a beach specially dedicated to HM The King and the Queen.
With starfish and seahorse markers still being created to designate the ''10 percent zones'' it's still not entirely clear whether tourists will be able to bring their own umbrellas and chairs and sit where they like at any beach.
The island's chief of police says there is no law against visitors bringing their own equipment and sitting where they like.
But Vice Governor Chokdee says that as sunlovers with their own equipment arrive at beaches, they will be offered brochures suggesting that they go into the ''10 percent zones'' voluntarily.
The vice governor said he would help to bring together a team of 200 to carry out the three-day demolition at Surin, with a Royal Thai Navy 3 representative today saying the Navy would provide at least 40 officers.
The date for the beach's three-day closure and demolition of buildings is expected to be announced shortly, to give tourists time to make alternate plans.
Well-known beach brands likely to disappear or be partly destroyed include Catch Beach Club, Bimi, Taste, Pla and Twin Brothers.
Managers at nearby five-star resorts will once again be surprised to hear what the mayor and the vice governor have in mind.
Rates at resorts around Surin go higher at this, the most popular time of the year. Regular visitors always assume that the nearby beach will be available for them to use.
It's the first time anyone has suggested closing Surin beach since a controversial plan by a private firm to hold a ticketted two-day New Year concert a few years ago.
Reports by Phuketwan helped to persuade authorities that it was not the right beach for a long party. The concert was moved to Patong where it was not the roaring success that organisers had anticipated.
The military cleared all commerce from Phuket's public beaches last year and would not permit a similar venture for private profit.
Totally nuts ! The lunatics are running the asylum.
Posted by Discover Thainess on December 1, 2015 21:53