The height of arrogance.

Yesterday at Nai Harn.

This truck pulls up right in front of the" Animals Banned" on beach sign unload their four dogs and proceed to let them run loose on the beach

Not a smart move.

Not a smart move.

Nobody enforcing this at Nai Hairn. Saw a lady I know with her two dogs last Sunday, was embarrassed to approach her as they looked more like furry rodents, I knew I would say something and make her mad, and some other people had their pug with them.

Bit of a perennial subject, with no real resolution in sight as long as there are all the soi dogs that congregate around the beachside restaurants. My dogs are 2 years old now, and when they were very young we tried many of the beaches, such as Nai Harn, Kata etc, but the hassle (from the soi dogs) just wasn't pleasurable. I don't live near a beach, so wherever we go it's a 15 or 20 minute car journey.

My dogs (Golden Retrievers) love to swim, and we take them to the beach maybe 4/5/6 times a week, or even every day depending on there being enough tide for them to swim. Always a balance between giving dogs the exercise they need, and not causing alarm or distress to others using the same area (particularly young children for example).

I find the east coast beaches particularly good for dogs, as they tend to be in Muslim areas, and hence very, very few soi dogs around. Also not that many tourists that they can cause a problem to, and in fact at our favoured spot, ours have become something of an attraction as they love children and like to swim with anyone in the water. Their photographs must be amongst the most globally viewed in the world! Not uncommon to have a queue of Chinese waiting to be photographed with them.

Anyway, back to the point. Responsible dog ownership is the only answer, and regardless of the breed/size, all dogs must be controlled in public places. Responsible dog owners have to accept that not everyone is a dog lover, and any kind of dog, let alone any of the more notorious breeds, can cause real anxiety and fear amongst some people.