HIGH TIDES have been pummeling two Phuket beaches today, giving a dramatic preview of what global warming might bring to Phuket in the too-soon future.

''We've never seen the tide lash the west coast like this before,'' said one local at Kalim, north of Patong. The words were echoed at Kamala, a few kilometres further north, where Phuket's western beaches road also runs low alongside the shoreline.

These dramatic photographs were taken today by Phuketwan reader Niruj Suriya, who lives in Kamala. Some residents have even left their homes in low-lying sections along the beach road, just in case.

The pounding has already lasted three days. Locals at Kalim and Kamala are mounting a 24-hour watch on both beaches, with the expectation that even worse might be to come with the next peak tide about noon on Sunday.

The new moon of Phuket's Vegetarian Festival appears to be to blame for the invasive waves that will cause a headache for Patong and Kamala councils once the surf stops pounding the roads with water and sand from the beaches.

Tourists on motorcycles failed to negotiate some of the sand ''drifts'' and came off.

Ironically, a one-day seminar on global warming was held in Phuket City this week. Large-scale bleaching of the region's coral reefs earlier this year was a portent of worse ''natural man-made'' disasters to come.

Cynics say there is no need for Phuket to be the slightest bit concerned about global warming - the degradation and destruction caused by tourism and overdevelopment will have ruined Phuket long before the temperature rise causes increased havoc.

For now, authorities will have to work out how to protect Phuket's popular and highly appealing beach coast road from taking worse poundings in the near future.