Bang Saen Beach reinvents itself: No smoking, no booze - better health for all

 

Image: Daily News

 

Daily News reported that a trip to Bang Saen beach in Chonburi used to be a very Thai day out.

 

People would pile onto a noisy bus smoking and drinking.

 

Once at the seaside they would continue with their cigarettes and alcohol consumption; it would be noisy, full of eating from hawkers and then leaving the mess of foam containers behind.

 

No more. 

 

Now there is a complete ban on the consumption and sale of alcohol. And smoking means a 5,000 baht fine unless it's done in airport style enclosed booths. 

 

A one kilometer stretch of the beach is for mat use only. Hawkers are banned so that tourists can have a peaceful experience.

 

No foam containers can be used.

 

The changes are being met with approval from the public and even vendors.

 

Now Bang Saen's new approach is being branded as "Clean lungs, Healthy Liver - and 'Happy Heart" (a play on the area that is Saensuk municipality.

 

Saensuk mayor Narongchai "Lek" Khunpluem is behind the remodelling. He comes from an influential Chonburi family well known for getting their way in the past.

 

But his fresh faced approach and social media savvy is winning friends.

 

Mayor Narongchai said that the changes to Bang Saen are based on the fact this is a public space where certain laws can be applied.

 

He said that in the past he was always getting complaints about second hand cigarette smoke and he claimed that 100% of people who died in the sea had gone for a dip drunk. 

 

Local businesses are onboard with the changes especially as weekends have seen Thai tourists flock to Bang Saen post height of the pandemic. The ease of travel to the resort from Bangkok always made it popular with day trippers but now it is thriving with a new breed.

 

A NIDA poll showed rave reviews regarding Covid-19 safety and said it was a good place to take the family.

 

Suwimon Srithongdee, 59, a beverage seller said she used to sell alcohol among her wares. 

 

Not doing so now has not affected her business at all and an added benefit is that people do not drive drunk back home.

 

Source: Daily News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-11-21

 

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Boring.........

They really know how to nail a coffin ????

Find another beach

7 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Find another beach

Smoking has been banned for a couple of years now on Thai beaches. Good luck with finding one that officially allows it. 5000 baht fine in Pattaya.

5000 baht for smoking.

300 baht for not wearing a helmet on a motorbike.

Russian and Chinese folk are being targeted then, and I thought they were being sought after....????

41 minutes ago, polpott said:

Smoking has been banned for a couple of years now on Thai beaches. Good luck with finding one that officially allows it. 5000 baht fine in Pattaya.

Well unfortunately for people who think the no smoking on the beach law is great.......The beach in Pattaya  is now so big that they cant see you smoking on the beach...LOL.....No problem smoking on the beach...

Edited November 21, 20205 yr by redwood1

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

branded as "Clean lungs,

So no smoking on a beach  but the farmers can continue to burn their fields and forests  with not a care in the world  the government even made a phone app to advise them of burning times ! 

and

 

I've been to Bang Saen several times and though I've never particularly noticed smoking, most tables under the mass of umbrellas, contain a bottle of Hong Thong or Blend 285 and several bottles of soda and Coke. Plus copious amounts of seafood, which they haven't banned yet.

 

The ban will certainly help stop drunk drivers, if it is enforced.

 

 

Edited November 21, 20205 yr by madmitch

One less resort that I will visit. The Mayor sure is doing a good job of killing off the small amount of trade that the beach currently attracts by banning booze.

Edited November 21, 20205 yr by JusticeGB

1 hour ago, redwood1 said:

Well unfortunately for people who think the no smoking on the beach law is great.......The beach in Pattaya  is now so big that they cant see you smoking on the beach...LOL.....No problem smoking on the beach...

There is a problem. I regularly rented a chair from one of the vendors in Jomtien. Won't let me smoke now for fear of being fined herself.

20 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

One less resort that I will visit. The Mayor sure is doing a good job of killing off the small amount of trade that the beach currently attracts by banning booze.

Its pretty much always been a Thai resort. Never were many foreigners there.

Hot as hell on Bang Saen beach; no see breeze to cool everyone down.

45 minutes ago, champers said:

Hot as hell on Bang Saen beach; no see breeze to cool everyone down.

Raining here North of Pattaya.

Raining here too south of Pattaya.

1 hour ago, polpott said:

Its pretty much always been a Thai resort. Never were many foreigners there.

The Thais drink as much as the farangs!

32 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Raining here North of Pattaya.

I meant generally and not today. I am in North Pattaya myself now.

21 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

The Thais drink as much as the farangs!

And your point is?

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Now there is a complete ban on the consumption and sale of alcohol. And smoking means a 5,000 baht fine unless it's done in airport style enclosed booths. 

I seriously hate smoking with a vengeance and am very happy to see fines, but seriously, 5,000 baht ? That's like about £1,000+ based on UK versus Thai monthly wage. Lunacy, to think 3 fags and your entire monthly wage has gone, no matter how much I hate tobacco.

4 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

5000 baht for smoking.

300 baht for not wearing a helmet on a motorbike.

That is about right.  With smoking, you kill yourself and others, without helmet mainly yourself. I agree with that spread of fines 

I'm a non-smoker, but I can't understand why they ban smoking in open air ?

 

It's even stranger for alcohol - but it says "alcohol sale is banned" - does this apply only to the beach, so walking over to the nearest 7 for booze and drinking it on the beach is still ok?

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Raining here North of Pattaya.

 

1 hour ago, johng said:

Raining here too south of Pattaya.

I can’t wait to hear the rain report for Central Pattaya. 

Smoking has been banned on that beach for at least two years already.

Bang Saen beach would probably be the dirtiest popular beach in all of Thailand. Famous for its seafood, but I passed after seeing the sea water that the seafood comes out of. 
 

Green polluted water with zero visibility and an incredible amount of rubbish on the beach and in the water. It doesn’t seem to bother the Thais though, happily swimming and banana boating in it. (The street circuit racing is a good day out though with the sexy promo girls.)

 

Another Khunplume beach resort town. I suspect the family is rubbish blind.

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 20205 yr by Natai Beach

1 hour ago, Swiss1960 said:

That is about right.  With smoking, you kill yourself and others, without helmet mainly yourself. I agree with that spread of fines 

Not on an open beach.

3 hours ago, polpott said:

Its pretty much always been a Thai resort. Never were many foreigners there.

Yes and dirty and disgusting with the beach littered with plastic bags and left-over meals. I doubt very much that the Thais will pay much heed to the no foam containers. The Thais learn nothing about how to take care of a beach and still just rely on the tide to clean it. It will take more than a few pronouncements to ever get me to go back there. I would want to see glowing reports (plural) off many Farangs who have been and can testify to how fantastic and clean it is. There are much better resorts than Bang Saen.

1 hour ago, tgw said:

I'm a non-smoker, but I can't understand why they ban smoking in open air ?

 

It's even stranger for alcohol - but it says "alcohol sale is banned" - does this apply only to the beach, so walking over to the nearest 7 for booze and drinking it on the beach is still ok?

I was there last week and brought to the beach from 7-11 no problem.  The chair vendor actually brought me some ice.

The beach and water clean plenty of food vendors around.

20 minutes ago, polpott said:

Not on an open beach.

Based on the olfactory sense of a smoker, no doubt. It is insane how much cigarette smoke stinks up an area, even outside, and how slowly it dissipates. You need a pretty heavy updraft to not have a direct impact on the people around you if they are within a 5-10 metre radius.

 

I found this hard to believe when I was a smoker, but having regained my sense of smell it is quite obvious what sacrifices smokers demand of the people around them. 

2 minutes ago, androokery said:

Based on the olfactory sense of a smoker, no doubt. It is insane how much cigarette smoke stinks up an area, even outside, and how slowly it dissipates. You need a pretty heavy updraft to not have a direct impact on the people around you if they are within a 5-10 metre radius.

 

I found this hard to believe when I was a smoker, but having regained my sense of smell it is quite obvious what sacrifices smokers demand of the people around them. 

I gave up smoking for 10 years. I call BS on this.

2 minutes ago, polpott said:

I gave up smoking for 10 years. I call BS on this.

Are you calling BS on my sense of smell? That’s amusing. 

"No foam containers can be used" -good. How about 5000 baht fine for leaving a disgusting mess on the beach?

I live in Jomtien. They've done a pretty good job cleaning up beach on a daily basis. However, the trash cans down in my area, usually on beach side of road are all gone. Some moved across the street. Hard to expect people to use trash bins when there aren't any...

As far as smoking and drinking goes, I reckon if they are using a legal product in an open area, then okay with me. People do get stupid drunk and that leads to fights at times, but that can happen anywhere. The beach is wide and long. If smoking bothers you, sit somewhere else. It's not like Coney Island...