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PHUKET: As the revolution continues across Phuket to stop use of public land for private profit by taxi drivers and beach vendors, Pradab Koliyanon counts himself among the losers.
Khun Pradap ran Pradap Seafood restaurant on Phuket's Surin beach for 18 years. Then last year, with a Belgian financial backer, he launched the Diamond Beach Club.
The beach club venture on public land on the Surin shorefront was not the first. And some still doubt that it will be among the last.
But the clearances now taking place along Phuket's beach foreshores have given Khun Pradap food for thought.
''Last year, my partner from Belgium invested 48 million baht to upgrade the restaurant to a beach club. I told him twice: you know the beach club is on a public area? He said, 'that's fine. We are building this because the public needs it.'
''I see others doing it and so I thought, 'Why not?''
The great purpose-built canopy over the bar area is coming down now as investors wonder how it happened that the invasion of public land went without triggering a backlash for so long.
In the end, there was an explosion of greed, with some restaurants on the Surin shorefront carving out vast spaces on the beach for private profit.
As Phuketwan noted some years ago: ''Two beach clubs on the shorefront is fine. But will everyone stop when there are 20?''
The answer is that once private profit can be made from public land, there are no limits.
Being among the last to join the greed rush, Khun Pradap now says: ''We did not make any money. My heart is broken. I never dreamed authorities would crack down on people like this.''
There is now the question of what happens to the 50 staff, although many of those are likely to be high season hirings.
The restaurant on the correct side of the shorefront pathway requires just six people as staff.
And there is the question of the billowing white canopy, constructed especially to keep beach club customers safe in all weather. That will cost 45,000 baht alone to dismantle, bringing the total cost of dismantling Diamond Beach Club to about 150,000 baht.
''This is shocking to me. How are we going to deal with this?'' he asked. That's a good question for authorities at all of Phuket's popular west coast beaches.
What's yet to be made clear is whether the clearance of private profit-takers from the shorefront extends to beach vendors as well. A meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall was certainly told yesterday that all the sun loungers and umbrellas at Surin beach were going.
Further along Surin beach lies Pla restaurant, a pioneer years ago in grabbing a large section of the sand for exclusive use of its customers.
Local mayor Ma-Ann Samran told a meeting yesterday that Cherng Talay sued Pla for its attack on public land and the initial court ruling in favor of Cherng Talay council is now being appealed.
Pla was ordered to pay one million baht in compensation and the interest continues to mount at 2000 baht a day - just a drop in the bucket if you can pack customers onto a public beach for free and charge them as you please.
At Bang Tao's Laypang beach, the original owners of the Lotus restaurant leased it to one foreigner who leased it again to another foreigner.
''What is the legal position?'' Mayor Ma-Ann asked the Public Prosecutor at yesterday's meeting.
''The second foreigner may sue the first foreigner and the first foreigner may sue the Thai 'owner,''' the prosecutor responded.
Mayor Ma-Ann asked whether it would be possible for the council to keep one of the illegal buildings - Lotus perhaps - and turn it into a centre for lifeguards.
''No,'' came the prosecutor's reply. ''All buildings on public land are illegal.''
At Kamala beach yesterday, the proprietor of at least one illegal structure was waiting and hoping, even as virtually every other building on the beach was coming down.
''We have no idea where our shop will go next so we will wait and see,'' she told Phuketwan. ''Our income stops immediately. The local council should support us as well.''
Less clear still is how far the clearances will be taken and whether the Army aims to preserve Phuket's beaches in their natural state, free from all commercial activity, from now on.
''We did not dream this would ever happen,'' said the Kamala beach store ''owner.'' ''Everybody is scared of the Army. Who wants to play games with the Army?''
Khun Pradap ran Pradap Seafood restaurant on Phuket's Surin beach for 18 years. Then last year, with a Belgian financial backer, he launched the Diamond Beach Club.
The beach club venture on public land on the Surin shorefront was not the first. And some still doubt that it will be among the last.
But the clearances now taking place along Phuket's beach foreshores have given Khun Pradap food for thought.
''Last year, my partner from Belgium invested 48 million baht to upgrade the restaurant to a beach club. I told him twice: you know the beach club is on a public area? He said, 'that's fine. We are building this because the public needs it.'
''I see others doing it and so I thought, 'Why not?''
The great purpose-built canopy over the bar area is coming down now as investors wonder how it happened that the invasion of public land went without triggering a backlash for so long.
In the end, there was an explosion of greed, with some restaurants on the Surin shorefront carving out vast spaces on the beach for private profit.
As Phuketwan noted some years ago: ''Two beach clubs on the shorefront is fine. But will everyone stop when there are 20?''
The answer is that once private profit can be made from public land, there are no limits.
Being among the last to join the greed rush, Khun Pradap now says: ''We did not make any money. My heart is broken. I never dreamed authorities would crack down on people like this.''
There is now the question of what happens to the 50 staff, although many of those are likely to be high season hirings.
The restaurant on the correct side of the shorefront pathway requires just six people as staff.
And there is the question of the billowing white canopy, constructed especially to keep beach club customers safe in all weather. That will cost 45,000 baht alone to dismantle, bringing the total cost of dismantling Diamond Beach Club to about 150,000 baht.
''This is shocking to me. How are we going to deal with this?'' he asked. That's a good question for authorities at all of Phuket's popular west coast beaches.
What's yet to be made clear is whether the clearance of private profit-takers from the shorefront extends to beach vendors as well. A meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall was certainly told yesterday that all the sun loungers and umbrellas at Surin beach were going.
Further along Surin beach lies Pla restaurant, a pioneer years ago in grabbing a large section of the sand for exclusive use of its customers.
Local mayor Ma-Ann Samran told a meeting yesterday that Cherng Talay sued Pla for its attack on public land and the initial court ruling in favor of Cherng Talay council is now being appealed.
Pla was ordered to pay one million baht in compensation and the interest continues to mount at 2000 baht a day - just a drop in the bucket if you can pack customers onto a public beach for free and charge them as you please.
At Bang Tao's Laypang beach, the original owners of the Lotus restaurant leased it to one foreigner who leased it again to another foreigner.
''What is the legal position?'' Mayor Ma-Ann asked the Public Prosecutor at yesterday's meeting.
''The second foreigner may sue the first foreigner and the first foreigner may sue the Thai 'owner,''' the prosecutor responded.
Mayor Ma-Ann asked whether it would be possible for the council to keep one of the illegal buildings - Lotus perhaps - and turn it into a centre for lifeguards.
''No,'' came the prosecutor's reply. ''All buildings on public land are illegal.''
At Kamala beach yesterday, the proprietor of at least one illegal structure was waiting and hoping, even as virtually every other building on the beach was coming down.
''We have no idea where our shop will go next so we will wait and see,'' she told Phuketwan. ''Our income stops immediately. The local council should support us as well.''
Less clear still is how far the clearances will be taken and whether the Army aims to preserve Phuket's beaches in their natural state, free from all commercial activity, from now on.
''We did not dream this would ever happen,'' said the Kamala beach store ''owner.'' ''Everybody is scared of the Army. Who wants to play games with the Army?''
Although it is not nice to see people losing there living they have been operating an illegal business for years and getting away with it. They have made plenty of money along the way and never once considering that what they were doing was wrong - greed is the main player here and its something that is only too common on Phuket.
Posted by Ciaran on June 18, 2014 11:08