Beach Access Stopped At Naiyan Beach, Phuket

[Master Chief]

SAKOO, PHUKET: Some 100 protesters have roadblocked the entrance to Sirinath Marine National Park, hoping authorities will do away with sharply increased entrance fees that are keeping tourists away and hurting their businesses.

The new fees, which took effect about two months ago, have made access to the park much more expensive – prohibitively so for many tourists who used to visit the park regularly.

The park previously charged 40 baht per vehicle, regardless of the number of passengers.

Under the new structure vehicle access is still 40 baht, but there is an additional fee for each passenger:

40 baht per adult and 20 baht per child for Thai nationals.

Foreigners must fork out ten times that amount, 400 baht per adult and 200 baht per child. The entrance fee for a single pickup filled with Thais and foreigners hoping to enjoy a day at the beach can now easily exceed 1,000 baht.

The new prices have sparked complaints from tourists, whose numbers have dropped sharply since the new policy took effect and kept the park quiet over the recent long holiday period.

Mayuree Ruangrat, 60, told reporters she wanted park chief Charuay Inchan to resign or be dismissed.

Ms Mayuree is one of some 100 other protesters who yesterday set up a tent on the access road to the park, blocking traffic. They say they will continue the protest until the old entrance fee policy is reintroduced.

Some of the protesters were among the group of vendors operating businesses inside the park who last November refused orders from the park to remove their operations from the beachfront and relocate to a food center built for them further inland.

For the report on that protest click here.

Park chief Charuay Inchan has held talks with the villagers, but has been unsuccessful in trying to persuade them to end the blockade.

The protesters said Mr Charuay told them the entrance fee structure was beyond his control because he was bound to abide by rules and regulations issued by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

The protest continues into its second day today.

Phuket Gazette

MC

[simon43]

I live just by this national park. It is AFAIK primarily offshore, with a thin sliver of land. Because the onshore part is not really a national park in the true sense of the word, the entrance fees are usually never in line with the usual charges for Thai national parks. For foreigners, the entrance fee varies from 0 baht, through 10, 20, 40 baht, according to what sort of mood the park attendant is in. But I have never seen any Thai person pay a single baht to enter this national park, not in 6 years of living here!! For that reason, I also never pay, but either cycle or drive straight past the entrance attendant, smiling but never stopping!

I never understand why any entrance fee can be justified to access this sliver of land....

Simon

[NBT TV Phuket]

item--5--- on VDO at National News Bureau Public Relations Department

Shop operators and villagers at Nai Yang blocked the entrance to the national park after park officials collected entrance fees as regulated.

Around 100 local villagers and shop operators on Nai Yang beach on Monday put up tents to block the entrance of Sirinart – Nai Yang national park. They protested against the park which began to collect entrance fees for visitors. Thai adults will be charged 40 baht and a child charged 20 baht while foreign visitors will be charged 200 baht. The fees follow the National Park Department’s previous announcement, but protestors now see the high fee affecting the number of visitors to the park. Officials from Thalang district negotiated with the protestors, but they declined and demanded to talk to a park chief. They even moved the blockage up front to a road junction further causing inconvenience for motorists and tourist vehicles near the airport. The Sirinart-Naiyang National Park Chief Jaruay Intanajan insisted that the fees collected are in accordance to the regulations. The park has however exempted the fees for local operators and villagers. He believes that the protest was a result of the park’s action in taking legal action against 10 restaurants or food stalls which failed to remove them to operate at new designated locations.

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more on this to follow tomorrow, Wednesday

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Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) + Radio Thailand FM90.5 at 8.30am & perhaps repeats on Phuket Cable TV channel 1 at 7pm & 1am, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces & Mazz Radio FM108 at 7pm in Phuket, Tuesday 6th January 2009 & NNT : National News Bureau of Thailand

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[simon43]

The park has however exempted the fees for local operators and villagers

[\quote]

Well, I'm a villager here since 2002 but they still try to charge me

In my opinion, the park is onto a complete loser here because tourists can access Naiyang Beach via the public (free-access) road.

Simon

[LeungKen]

Road Block Gone as of 5:00 pm today........

...and I have never been asked to pay whilst going through this park for 7 years.

[Master Chief]

Problem is that the local government has told the shops and restaurants at this beach to move away to a new area away from the beach. By not obeying this order the local government has made it difficult to access the area in dispute.

I do not know if it is right, for the best of tourist satisfaction to take away all the outdoor eating shop from beaches, as it has been done at Rawai and Nai Harn.

The best eat sensations I have had here in Phuket are at some small outdoor restaurants located just at the beach.

Seems like that will not be an option to find in Phuket anymore.

Is that what the public wants or have the community not understod the value of this for tourists, must everything be so bloody organized and Singaporean correct?

MC

[NBT TV Phuket]

item---1-- on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=893

Villagers and shop operators who blocked Nai Yang national park agreed to stop after their demands were met.

Some restaurants and food stall operators in the Nai Yang National Park plus a group of local villagers on Tuesday morning continued to block vehicles at the entrance to the national park for the second day. This resulted in some restaurants which are still open within the national park having to transport their supplies by motorcycles while 12 stalls closed for services either to join the protests or had no customers. The protesters called for park officials to review the fee collection policy. They claim that the collection leads to declining number of their clients. The Sirinart-Naiyang National Park is located near Phuket Airport. The operators admitted that spending time protesting and blocking the entrance affected their income, but they said they needed to send clear messages as they receive first hand complaints from tourists that the fee is high while the park does not have any facilities, in comparison to other parks which collect fees from visitors. They claimed that most visitors told them that they may not return. The Department of National Park, Wildlife & Plant Conservation earlier announced the fees for park entrance, with 40 baht for Thai adults, 20 baht for a child while foreign visitors are charged 200 baht. During the protest, Thais and foreigners could still get into the park without having to pay. When Andaman News talked to some visitors, the views of Thais and foreign tourists were different. While Thai visitors see the fees as too high, some foreign visitors agree with the fee charge saying that it can be spent to improve facilities. Also a senior officer from the department came to talk to protesters. They demanded that the department delay the fee collection and the local park chief be moved. After negotiations, the official agreed to delay the fee collection, the park chief announced that he will move from the Phuket post, so protesters then lifted the blockage.