PHUKET: The official scorecard on how Phuket's popular beaches have been changed under the new government will be revealed today when the Royal Thai Navy reports to the media.
Decades of private encroachment along Phuket's public foreshores and illegal money-making at the holiday island's famous beaches - including Patong, Kamala, Karon, Kata and Nai Harn - have been swept away since May 22, when the military took command in Thailand.
The official scorecard may remain different to public perceptions, with almost everyone who has ever placed a bare foot in the sand at a west coast Phuket beach offering a view on whether the changes have been good or bad.
There are still tourists who would like the ''good old days'' to return so they could continue to spend the daylight hours of their Phuket holidays on sunbeds under umbrellas, with every whim being catered to by that other army, the obliging sand servants.
Onlookers puzzle how some restaurants and beach clubs have survived and prospered while so many others have been bulldozed.
And on the water, hundreds of noisy, polluting, scamming and occasionally deadly jet-skis still thump across the wave crests on Phuket - even though the neighboring provinces of Krabi and Phang Nga long ago made the decision that the machines were not environmentally friendly and wisely banned them.
From the cleared beaches of June and July, Phuket's dispossessed sunbed salesmen and strolling beach vendors have sought to resurrect their illicit livelihoods. While their incomes have been savaged, the jet-ski operators of Phuket roar on, in some cases making inroads at beaches where they were previously forbidden.
Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong has bravely tried to encourage Phuket's local councils to actually control the beaches they oversee. Yet over the past 30 years, the councils have always given in to local voters and business interests and allowed illegal commerce to rule.
Only with a strong level of enforcement will Phuket's privatised beaches be properly returned to the public. In Phuketwan's view, that requires the independent control of a newly-created Phuket Beach Authority, supported by the Royal Thai Navy as enforcers, and with jet-skis banned.
The governor has nevertheless been trying to provide a workable compromise through his ''10 percent solution'' that allows for rented umbrellas - but not with sunbeds - at 10 percent of each Phuket beach. Swimmers who bring their own umbrellas are now, after much foolishness, allowed to sit wherever they wish.
Just yesterday at Karon, we watched the 10 percent rule in action, with vendors carting umbrellas and mats across from the sports stadium at 9am and carting everything back again at 3pm.
Vendors are not allowed to leave any equipment at the beaches as they once did, or police will clear all the umbrellas and chairs away and fine those who abuse the rules.
Karon seems to be managing with the new rules. But results will vary from beach to beach.
Across a couple of coastal hills to the north, Patong, the holiday island's most popular beach, remains its most chaotic. The 10 percent rule will take about 30 years to implement properly here, Phuketwan believes, and swimmers' lives will continue to be at risk as long as the scores of jet-skis have absolute control in the water.
Here, then, before the official scorecard is produced, Phuketwan reviews the state of Phuket's beaches:
Patong Vastly improved on the days when thousands of umbrellas and sunbeds covered the beach but what gains there have been on the sand are now overwhelmed by the greater control given in the water to jet-skis. It's unlikely that Patong Council listened to any swimmers in helping the jet-ski operators get on with business. To see jet-ski operators touting rides all along the sand is to understand who runs this beach.
Karon A smattering of private enterprise survives but the pressure of people is not as strong here as on Patong and so there isn't the same degree of chaos or commerce. With constant vigilance by local authorities or police or the Royal Thai Navy, the beach could be fully restored to the public with about five years of constant patrolling and enforcement.
Kata A little while back, Phuket City authorities brought under control the entrepreneurs who were setting up restaurants on the sand every night. Kata, with less people pressure than Patong, can be saved if local authorities abandon their previous commitment to support beach businesses.
Nui beach Perhaps the worst example of what can happen when a beach is privatised and nothing is done to prevent the ''owner'' doing as they please. This small beach will take a generation or two to recover from the building of illegal businesses and constant abuse. This is the last of the Phuket beaches to be be restored to the public. No plan for reverting it to its natural state has been revealed.
Kamala Once one of the most jam-packed of Phuket's beaches with semi-permanent commercial enterprises along the sand, Kamala is half-saved. Commerce has returned and some beach restaurants continue because of a preexisting court case. Further along the beach, an investigation should be undertaken into construction that has taken place within 50 meters of high tide.
Surin Although this beach has been cleared and now has one of the finest unimpeded vistas from the foreshore, concerns also continue about one large construction well within 50 metres of the high tide mark. Commercial conflicts still exist here, with locals trying to beat the system at every opportunity and beachclubs frowning on fireworks, but encouraging fire show performers. The latest dispute involves jet-skis being brought by tourists from other beaches, much to the annoyance of lifeguards and swimmers. There appears to be no control over tourists bringing jet-skis to beaches where they are banned - another reason why jet-skis should go.
Nai Harn Phuket's most southern beach is recovering from the encroachment of restaurants in parkland among the glade of trees along the foreshore. Swimmers are allowed to bring their own umbrellas, allowing this beach to recover some of its magic.
Nai Yang Along with Nai Thon, Nai Yang was slower to be commercialised but over the past five years, the greed rush was evident here. The bulldozers have restored a balance. Question marks continue to hang over the role rangers at Sirinath National Park nearby played in encouraging development at some parts of the shorefront, but not others.
Laem Sing A small, almost perfect but hard to reach beach, Laem Sing was cleared of commerce but latest reports indicate some have returned. Why are some people allowed to return to places where business has been banned, while others appear to be gone for good? Officials still have plenty of explaining to do.
Layan The arrival of an international beach club franchise to the shore here has destroyed forever the tranquil nature of this beach. Now, jet-skis and banana boats are commercialising the water, too. Party people are not generally environmentally-friendly. The test is whether a person prefers the sound of the surf lapping the shore or head-banging noise. Phuket needs one, but not the other.
Decades of private encroachment along Phuket's public foreshores and illegal money-making at the holiday island's famous beaches - including Patong, Kamala, Karon, Kata and Nai Harn - have been swept away since May 22, when the military took command in Thailand.
The official scorecard may remain different to public perceptions, with almost everyone who has ever placed a bare foot in the sand at a west coast Phuket beach offering a view on whether the changes have been good or bad.
There are still tourists who would like the ''good old days'' to return so they could continue to spend the daylight hours of their Phuket holidays on sunbeds under umbrellas, with every whim being catered to by that other army, the obliging sand servants.
Onlookers puzzle how some restaurants and beach clubs have survived and prospered while so many others have been bulldozed.
And on the water, hundreds of noisy, polluting, scamming and occasionally deadly jet-skis still thump across the wave crests on Phuket - even though the neighboring provinces of Krabi and Phang Nga long ago made the decision that the machines were not environmentally friendly and wisely banned them.
From the cleared beaches of June and July, Phuket's dispossessed sunbed salesmen and strolling beach vendors have sought to resurrect their illicit livelihoods. While their incomes have been savaged, the jet-ski operators of Phuket roar on, in some cases making inroads at beaches where they were previously forbidden.
Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong has bravely tried to encourage Phuket's local councils to actually control the beaches they oversee. Yet over the past 30 years, the councils have always given in to local voters and business interests and allowed illegal commerce to rule.
Only with a strong level of enforcement will Phuket's privatised beaches be properly returned to the public. In Phuketwan's view, that requires the independent control of a newly-created Phuket Beach Authority, supported by the Royal Thai Navy as enforcers, and with jet-skis banned.
The governor has nevertheless been trying to provide a workable compromise through his ''10 percent solution'' that allows for rented umbrellas - but not with sunbeds - at 10 percent of each Phuket beach. Swimmers who bring their own umbrellas are now, after much foolishness, allowed to sit wherever they wish.
Just yesterday at Karon, we watched the 10 percent rule in action, with vendors carting umbrellas and mats across from the sports stadium at 9am and carting everything back again at 3pm.
Vendors are not allowed to leave any equipment at the beaches as they once did, or police will clear all the umbrellas and chairs away and fine those who abuse the rules.
Karon seems to be managing with the new rules. But results will vary from beach to beach.
Across a couple of coastal hills to the north, Patong, the holiday island's most popular beach, remains its most chaotic. The 10 percent rule will take about 30 years to implement properly here, Phuketwan believes, and swimmers' lives will continue to be at risk as long as the scores of jet-skis have absolute control in the water.
Here, then, before the official scorecard is produced, Phuketwan reviews the state of Phuket's beaches:
Patong Vastly improved on the days when thousands of umbrellas and sunbeds covered the beach but what gains there have been on the sand are now overwhelmed by the greater control given in the water to jet-skis. It's unlikely that Patong Council listened to any swimmers in helping the jet-ski operators get on with business. To see jet-ski operators touting rides all along the sand is to understand who runs this beach.
Karon A smattering of private enterprise survives but the pressure of people is not as strong here as on Patong and so there isn't the same degree of chaos or commerce. With constant vigilance by local authorities or police or the Royal Thai Navy, the beach could be fully restored to the public with about five years of constant patrolling and enforcement.
Kata A little while back, Phuket City authorities brought under control the entrepreneurs who were setting up restaurants on the sand every night. Kata, with less people pressure than Patong, can be saved if local authorities abandon their previous commitment to support beach businesses.
Nui beach Perhaps the worst example of what can happen when a beach is privatised and nothing is done to prevent the ''owner'' doing as they please. This small beach will take a generation or two to recover from the building of illegal businesses and constant abuse. This is the last of the Phuket beaches to be be restored to the public. No plan for reverting it to its natural state has been revealed.
Kamala Once one of the most jam-packed of Phuket's beaches with semi-permanent commercial enterprises along the sand, Kamala is half-saved. Commerce has returned and some beach restaurants continue because of a preexisting court case. Further along the beach, an investigation should be undertaken into construction that has taken place within 50 meters of high tide.
Surin Although this beach has been cleared and now has one of the finest unimpeded vistas from the foreshore, concerns also continue about one large construction well within 50 metres of the high tide mark. Commercial conflicts still exist here, with locals trying to beat the system at every opportunity and beachclubs frowning on fireworks, but encouraging fire show performers. The latest dispute involves jet-skis being brought by tourists from other beaches, much to the annoyance of lifeguards and swimmers. There appears to be no control over tourists bringing jet-skis to beaches where they are banned - another reason why jet-skis should go.
Nai Harn Phuket's most southern beach is recovering from the encroachment of restaurants in parkland among the glade of trees along the foreshore. Swimmers are allowed to bring their own umbrellas, allowing this beach to recover some of its magic.
Nai Yang Along with Nai Thon, Nai Yang was slower to be commercialised but over the past five years, the greed rush was evident here. The bulldozers have restored a balance. Question marks continue to hang over the role rangers at Sirinath National Park nearby played in encouraging development at some parts of the shorefront, but not others.
Laem Sing A small, almost perfect but hard to reach beach, Laem Sing was cleared of commerce but latest reports indicate some have returned. Why are some people allowed to return to places where business has been banned, while others appear to be gone for good? Officials still have plenty of explaining to do.
Layan The arrival of an international beach club franchise to the shore here has destroyed forever the tranquil nature of this beach. Now, jet-skis and banana boats are commercialising the water, too. Party people are not generally environmentally-friendly. The test is whether a person prefers the sound of the surf lapping the shore or head-banging noise. Phuket needs one, but not the other.
i sure wish that nai harn would make make the beach umbrellas and mats leave at sunset.they just stack them like before and set them up again in the morning.forword progress is now sliding back to the old status quo.
Posted by Anonymous on February 12, 2015 10:08