PHUKET: Authorities are moving to bulldoze about 10 bars and restaurants at a Phuket beach next Wednesday in one of the final military-backed clearances of commerce.

The ''owners'' of the illegal businesses at Laypang beach, north of Bang Tao, will be sent bills for the 500,000 baht demolition, officials said today.

Teams from Cherng Talay council, Thalang district and Royal Thai Navy 3 will carry out the operation, targetting venues around Tony Restaurant, which is located near the Banyan Tree Resort.

The bill for demolishing Tony alone would amount to 80,000 baht. Phuketwan called a telephone number today on a sign at the restaurant but was told by the person who answered: ''No, it's not our place.'' The call ended immediately.

People acting on behalf of two of the establishments, Beach Bar 2 and Porn Restaurant, have appealed to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong to intercede and acknowledge their rights.

The governor is scheduled to chair a large-scale meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall this afternoon that may settle some of the residual issues generated from more than 12 months of beach clearances.

Soon after the military took control of Thailand in May last year, sunbeds and umbrellas and other commercial equipment were removed from Patong, Kamala, Karon, Kata, Surin, Nai Harn and other popular west coast beaches.

Private profit-taking is not permitted on Thailand's public beaches and the lack of enforcement of the law led to many of the beaches being covered in umbrellas and sunbeds from November ro April each year, with the profits going to entrepreneurs.

Governor Nisit has since tried to establish a ''10-percent zone'' rule allowing umbrellas to be hired at just one-tenth of the space on all Phuket beaches.

The move has alarmed veteran European tourists especially because most of them cannot stay on the beach without sunbeds, and sunbeds and beach chairs remain banned. People who hire umbrellas are required to use mats instead.

Phuketwan believes beach-goers everywhere have the right to bring their own equipment, and that the governor's ''10-percent zone'' is a regimentation out of keeping with the relaxing atmosphere people seek at beaches.

The change in approach has caused complete chaos at Patong beach, once the island's premier swimmng destination,where jet-ski operators have been permitted to expand along the entire length of the sand.

The governor and other authorities appear to have been persuaded that tourists want jet-skis when the vast majority of tourists would prefer to have them banned. as they have been in the neighboring provinces of Krabi or Phang Nga.

With the future of tourism on Phuket a subject of continued debate, more Europeans are likely to go elsewhere if they cannot sit on sunbeds or chairs at the island's beaches.

Phuketwan believes the island's local councils have long ago proved to be incapable of managing the beaches and has urged the creation of a Phuket Beach Authority to manage all the island's beaches with consistency, with regulations enforced by the Royal Thai Navy. The Navy already has a strong commitment to environmental protection along the Andaman coast.