Phuketwan 'Brave Enough to Change' Campaign
PHUKET: The famous beaches on Thailand's best-known holiday island can be saved for future generations if the coup command offers its support to ending years of private piracy.
Unless there is determined intervention by General Prayuth Chan-ocha and the National Council for Peace and Order, concerted action remains unlikely.
Just a few days ago, Phuket's Governor, Maitree Intrusud, told Phuketwan that any reforms, any attempt to resolve the problems of Phuket's public beaches being used for profit by private individuals, remain up to the local councils to resolve.
Yet yesterday, the message was plain from the mayors who head the local councils - without the support of the Phuket provincial authorities, it will be difficult to right years of opportunism and encroachment on public space.
Phuketwan supports immediate action by the military to clarify once and for all Phuket's future as a holiday tropical island whose most precious natural attractions have been defiled and degraded by years of private profit-taking.
Pressure is being applied on Phuket's mayors to continue to let the good times roll for the private profit-takers. The island's administrators vacillate, shrug and leave Phuket's problems for others to resolve.
Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-Ann Samran has been nudged into the frontline of the fight for Phuket's beaches. He told Phuketwan last night that he is prepared to save Surin, Bang Tao, Layan and Laypang beaches, even if it costs him reelection.
''I am prepared to do the right thing, to carry out the law as it was intended,'' he said. ''If it costs me the role of mayor, so be it.''
Less prepared to save the beaches is newly-elected Patong mayor Chalermlak Kebsub, who will need the backing of Phuket provincial authorities and the military to implement change at Patong beach.
She cannot afford to be as gung-ho as Mayor Ma-ann because Patong's voters are far more attuned to decades of private profit-taking at the expense of public interest.
The moment has come for vital decisions to be made about all of Phuket's beaches and the future of tourism on the island.
The difficulties faced by elected local officials and the chronic indecision of Phuket's governors is the reason why Phuketwan has advocated the creation of a Phuket Beach Authority to take charge of Phuket's sandy gems and - with the help of the Royal Thai Navy - to ensure they are saved for future generations to enjoy.
The mayors are as willing as they will ever be. Now, with Phuket's administration suffering its usual paralysis of principles, it's time for the military to act. The moment has come.
Act act act!!! Be strong Patong mayor Chalermlak Kebsub! Just be the vessel by which the NCPO does this!!! Let the cleaning up take place :) and we'll all be happier... go after the waste water polluters! This is the time to get the ball moving and into the goal!
Posted by J on June 27, 2014 12:13