Tsunami Blamed For Phuket Beach Encroachment Confusion

[webfact]

Tsunami blamed for Phuket beach encroachment confusion

Phuket Gazette

Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet said he understood how the 'misunderstanding' may have occurred, but added that the Land Department would now need to survey the site to confirm who owns what. Photo: Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai

Pradtana Saejew, president of Cherng Talay Traditional Thai Massage Club, Phuket. Photo: Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai

PHUKET: -- A Phuket hotel representative yesterday claimed that the 2004 tsunami washed away property boundary markers between his resort and public beach land, thus causing confusion over alleged beach encroachment.

The Surin Phuket, formerly known as The Chedi, situated on Pansea Beach on Phuket's northwest coast, is in the final stages of renovation in preparation of reopening under the new name.

As part of the project, seven guest rooms, outdoor showers and a beachfront bar have been added.

However, the beach masseuses who used to work on the beach in front of the resort filed a complaint that the new work has encroached onto public beach land.

The complaint was filed with the the Dhamrongtham Center (Ombudsman’s Office), which in turn sparked an inspection visit yesterday led by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak and Dhamrongtham Center chief Prapan Kanprasong.

“I have been working on this beach for more than 28 years. That was until six months ago, when a hotel representative asked me and other masseuses to stop working here,” said Pradtana Saejew, the president of Cherng Talay Traditional Thai Massage Club.

“They said they would renovate the hotel and as soon as it was finished we would be allowed to start work again. When we returned to the beach, we saw that the new buildings are on the public land where we used to set up our massage beds,” she said.

“We are here today to ask how the hotel will deal with our problem. We have been here as long as this hotel and we would like them to be fair to us too,” Mrs Pradtana added.

However, Surin Phuket representative Vachira Jairak explained to Vice Governor Somkiet, “We built everything on our property as shown on the land title deed. So I didn’t think that we had encroached onto public land. We didn’t ask permission from the Cherng Talay Municipality to add to the construction since we figured that we were building on our own land.

“Unfortunately, the marker for the border between the public land and our land was washed away when the tsunami hit Phuket. So now the position of the property boundary is unclear and I’m not sure whether we encroached on the public beach or not,” he added.

“Regarding the complaints made by beach masseuses and food vendors, I will allow everyone to come back as soon as we sort everything out. On behalf of The Surin Phuket, I promise that I will provide the best spot for everyone to operate their business again,” Mr Vachira said.

Vice Governor Somkiet told the Phuket Gazette, “Since the hotel holds the land title deed and the marker of the border line is unclear, I suggest that the hotel should discuss the issue with the Department of Land. This case needs to be investigated before making any conclusions.

“The hotel may or may not have encroached public land. It’s difficult to be sure because the boundary is unclear. If it turns out that the hotel has encroached onto public land, then that part of the construction will have to be demolished,” he added.

“At the moment, I suggest that the hotel pay for the Department of Land to carry out a survey. After which we can then discuss the issue of encroachment and ownership of the private property,” he added.

The Surin Phuket is scheduled to reopen towards the end of the year. However, the matter of land ownership will have to be decided before they can open their doors to tourists again.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article11713.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-12-15

[LivinginKata]

It's not so difficult for a professional surveyor to work out the original position for that pesky 'missing' marker post. Amazing Thailand ....

[rogerman]

I'm sure they will be happy to pay the fee to the department too...... They'll just open up and everything will get forgotten as usual

[JacknDanny]

“Unfortunately, the marker for the border between the public land and our land was washed away when the tsunami hit Phuket. So now the position of the property boundary is unclear and I’m not sure whether we encroached on the public beach or not,” he added.

You just know that is a crock of sh@t!! :lol:

[Jimi007]

Not to mention the huge land grab and squatting that went on after the Tsunami! I'm sure the old survey makers weren't all that accurate to start with and many places were never a Chanote titled land. People had just lived there forever without one and were kicked off their land in the greed and grab! With GPS, it really should be hard to find the "markers", other then to try to prove who owned it in the first place before some corrupt official was paid off...

[thaiIand]

is it me or the last 4-5 paragraph are just the same words put into different orders? Are gazette writers given a minimum word count like in elementary school?

Edited December 15, 2011 by thaiIand

[keestha]

For me as a Khao Lak resident, the problem sounds familiar. The high water line has always been shifting inland in Khao Lak, so many seaside plots of land as described in the land papers, are situated partly at the beach now.

[Jerry555]

not so difficult , professional , work , Thailand ....

I'm not shore you can use all these words in one sentence .

[snowgard]

I not understand what is unclear. The marks on other side from the hotel must be still there.

Before: x---------------------------------50m------------------------------x

Now ?-------------------------50m------------------------------x

It's a Big Problem for a Hotelmanager to LET check how long is the distance from one point to another? What University him go?

I am speakless!!!

TIT

[eljeque]

If they have a land title deed, it is easy enough to look at the building construction papers which shows how the building was situated on the land and then measure.

This is toooooo simple.

[Evilbaz]

Let's hope the issue of public access to the "public beach" is also addressed.

[keestha]

Let's hope the issue of public access to the "public beach" is also addressed.

If a public beach is only accessible through private land (usually a big hotel), the land owner has the fullest right to not allow people to walk through his land. You have the fullest right however, to access the beach by boat with a few friends, spread out a mat, open a bottle of booze, and turn up the ghetto blaster full volume.