PHUKET: Vendors displaced from Phuket's beaches are planning a protest to Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan when he visits the holiday island for Children's Day on Saturday.
The protest will be made at Saphan Hin in Phuket City, probably in the afternoon. It comes as mixed messages are delivered about the future of Phuket's famous west coast beaches.
At Nai Harn in Phuket's south, some massage tables have already been restored, a beach worker told Phuketwan, as masseuses anticipate regaining 10 percent of the beach under a plan proposed by Governor Nisit Jansomwong. However, the concept, unveiled at Kata beach yesterday, awaits formal approval next week.
It's a trial solution that is unlikely to be tried at Surin beach to the north, the Mayor of the local Cherng Talay council, Ma-Ann Samran, said today as he confirmed that his staff had removed sunbeds from another neighboring beach, Layan, just yesterday.
''We don't intend to allow vendors to return to the beaches,'' he said. ''The beaches along the Cherng Talay part of the coast are different.''
Mayor Ma-Ann said that he was continuing to negotiate with resorts in the hope of finding jobs for up to 300 displaced masseuses.
Vendors, sunbeds and umbrellas were cleared from all of Phuket's beaches after the military took control in Thailand on May 22.
Since then, some vendors and masseuses have been seen working at the beaches, especially the island's busiest beach, Patong.
One masseuse, Khun Toi, who tries to work at Bang Tao beach without being spotted by local authorities, says that the movement to regain jobs on the sand is quieter now.
''I have two children to feed and being without a job for so long makes the future look bleak,'' she said. ''I don't have the same level of hope that we will win this fight.''
Attitudes vary depending on the beach.
Khun Jaew, from Nai Harn, said that her family's income had been badly hit because she worked as a masseuse and her husband worked with sunbeds and umbrellas.
The most puzzling development of the week was the declaration that tourists who visit and bring their own personal umbrellas are likely to also be confined in the 10 percent of the beach reserved for vendors - a move that left onlookers puzzled at the logic.
The personal umbrellas now being brought by swimmers are usually scattered at different parts of Phuket beaches and do not impede the view the way that the hundreds of sunbeds and umbrellas in rows did before the clearances.
The protest will be made at Saphan Hin in Phuket City, probably in the afternoon. It comes as mixed messages are delivered about the future of Phuket's famous west coast beaches.
At Nai Harn in Phuket's south, some massage tables have already been restored, a beach worker told Phuketwan, as masseuses anticipate regaining 10 percent of the beach under a plan proposed by Governor Nisit Jansomwong. However, the concept, unveiled at Kata beach yesterday, awaits formal approval next week.
It's a trial solution that is unlikely to be tried at Surin beach to the north, the Mayor of the local Cherng Talay council, Ma-Ann Samran, said today as he confirmed that his staff had removed sunbeds from another neighboring beach, Layan, just yesterday.
''We don't intend to allow vendors to return to the beaches,'' he said. ''The beaches along the Cherng Talay part of the coast are different.''
Mayor Ma-Ann said that he was continuing to negotiate with resorts in the hope of finding jobs for up to 300 displaced masseuses.
Vendors, sunbeds and umbrellas were cleared from all of Phuket's beaches after the military took control in Thailand on May 22.
Since then, some vendors and masseuses have been seen working at the beaches, especially the island's busiest beach, Patong.
One masseuse, Khun Toi, who tries to work at Bang Tao beach without being spotted by local authorities, says that the movement to regain jobs on the sand is quieter now.
''I have two children to feed and being without a job for so long makes the future look bleak,'' she said. ''I don't have the same level of hope that we will win this fight.''
Attitudes vary depending on the beach.
Khun Jaew, from Nai Harn, said that her family's income had been badly hit because she worked as a masseuse and her husband worked with sunbeds and umbrellas.
The most puzzling development of the week was the declaration that tourists who visit and bring their own personal umbrellas are likely to also be confined in the 10 percent of the beach reserved for vendors - a move that left onlookers puzzled at the logic.
The personal umbrellas now being brought by swimmers are usually scattered at different parts of Phuket beaches and do not impede the view the way that the hundreds of sunbeds and umbrellas in rows did before the clearances.
How quick things change back with the usual suspects and usual excuses.
The Army needs to keep on top of this.
Posted by Tbs on January 8, 2015 19:39