Beach access on Surin Beach

[eezergood]

I have no problem paying for sun loungers etc..... and to expect them all to be off the beach is not realiastic, but at least make these people responsible for keeping 'their area' clean. Look at paradise beach, its spotless & the guys there are great! No mafia, no intimidation

[monkeycountry]

Obviously you are not allowed to pass through Le Meridien's property, without their permission, in order to get to the beach. Should you however find another way, such as sailing to the beach in front of their hotel, that would be perfectly legal. Further, since Le Meridien is an international chain, not some local mafia owned hotel, I am quite sure the management would not harass you if you somehow found your way to the beach (the security guard might though, as he does not know any better)

I've gone there a few times without any problem. Just dress nicely and walk right through. Bring your towel and swim suit in your bag. They had a nice pizza there years ago. But I haven't really checked it out lately. Other than to go to my Embassy's outreach program there once a year. But they do have a right to keep you out if you are accessing the beach by their land. No problem if by sea. The beach is public, but not necessarily a land access to it.

It sounds to me that we agree completely. I was not saying you cannot walk through Le Meridien's property, simply that they have the right to deny you permission - as you also state.

[IrishIvan]

Maybe try to bring in a Farang voluntary policeman. They might have more luck liasing with the Thai/Burmese staff at Surin Beach Catch Beach Club

[EBlair48]

If a Thai is harassing you and is in the wrong, ignore them. I find ignoring Thais works very well, they really don't have any kind of mechanism to deal with it and it fits well with the predominate hands- off attitude towards western foreigners.

" I don't speak English " ( with a heavy Slavic accent) is usually the extent of my conversations with Thais of this sort.

[grumpyoldman]

If a Thai is harassing you and is in the wrong, ignore them. I find ignoring Thais works very well, they really don't have any kind of mechanism to deal with it and it fits well with the predominate hands- off attitude towards western foreigners.

" I don't speak English " ( with a heavy Slavic accent) is usually the extent of my conversations with Thais of this sort.

Agreed on the "no englit" nyet, nyet often being pretty handy.

[ALFREDO]

I dont see any signage claiming any part of Surin ( or any beach in Phuket) is privately owned.

Has anyone else?

Surely, if the business concerned could do so legally , it would have signage claiming its exclusivity.

l think Nui beach will harass you if you dont pay the entrance fee of 200baht. Also you cant get onto the beach at La meridian resort as security will stop you

Access to the beach through the property can legally be restricted, enter the beach from the water & its a different story!

I tried that,many years ago in Low Season, no customers at all, land side entrance closed!

At FREEDOM Beach, approaching it by water scooter, did not dare to do it this time, ROTTWEILERS not of the friendly looking kind waited at the waterline!

[eezergood]

Access to the beach through the property can legally be restricted, enter the beach from the water & its a different story!

I tried that,many years ago in Low Season, no customers at all, land side entrance closed!

At FREEDOM Beach, approaching it by water scooter, did not dare to do it this time, ROTTWEILERS not of the friendly looking kind waited at the waterline!

NO problems with freedom beach & the cost, as the place is spotless! and you have to enter through their land technically!

[ALFREDO]

Access to the beach through the property can legally be restricted, enter the beach from the water & its a different story!

I tried that,many years ago in Low Season, no customers at all, land side entrance closed!

At FREEDOM Beach, approaching it by water scooter, did not dare to do it this time, ROTTWEILERS not of the friendly looking kind waited at the waterline!

NO problems with freedom beach & the cost, as the place is spotless! and you have to enter through their land technically!

Not "spotless" from a pack of big dogs and Rottweilers.

Difficult to negotiate with them regarding the -enter the beach from the water without problem-.

[suave]

Well if all goes well down at Surin beach I will pay a visit to Olivier Gibaud, the general manger of catch beach club and give him a good laugh!

[greenwater]

I received this reply to an email from the group that owns the club on the beach, below their response I will put my response to them. If I hear back again I will post it too.

My name is Olivier Gibaud and I lead the management of the varying assets and operations of Twinpalms Group in Phuket, Thailand. First of all allow me to thank you for addressing your email to me and taking the time to relate your recent experiences on Surin Beach, across Catch Beach Club.

As you are rightly pointing out, beaches in Thailand are public, in fact, so are roads, temples, parks, ect and therefore no one own them, beaches in this case have been and continue to be Phuket's jewel and one of the main reason many tourists, Phuket Residents and Thai national come to visit the southern shores of Thailand.

Allow me to speak about Surin Beach mainly as it is the beach I know best. Many years ago, the entire length of the beach was divided into 20+ spaces, those spaces usually comprise of both a land and a sand part, one large central beach space, across the public car park is mostly left un-cared for and primarily used by locals and overseas visitors to freely enjoy the sandy beach and water of Surin Beach.

The other 20+ smaller spaces located north and south of the central section were allocated to local families, providing them with the duty of care and use of individual "building" on the land side and in most cases the duty & right of caring & servicing the sandy part which lays across the building. The caring & servicing include but is not limited to daily cleaning of the sand from the water edges to the pedestrian way, the removal of debris such trees in the water, plastic, jelly fishes, ect, in some cases the planting of trees to preserve sand and shade, the supply of sun-chairs and umbrellas often made available subject to a minimal fee, the preparation, service and sale of food and drink on the beach, often coming from the supporting building across the sandy part.

In the case of Catch Beach Club, it is the result of a join venture between a number of local space holders and Twinpalms Group, those, together endeavored to provide the finest possible beach side lifestyle, now after 7 years recognized by tourists and locals and internationally by many institutions such as CNN as amongst the best beach side venues in the world. In order to do so, Catch Beach Club has been serviced by almost 100 local employees whom in-turn care for over 1'000 family members as a result of their earnings. Catch Beach Club also supports multiple local businesses supplying fruits, vegetables, seafood, water and all the daily necessities related to such servicing. This particular venue and venture is VAT registered and declares all its revenue to the local government.

My understanding of your recent experiences is that the beach caretakers of Catch Beach Club took the liberty to relocate your belonging which were laying on the sand close to sun-chairs to the side of the beach club, in an area that was free, allowing for clear view and passage from the beach club to the water, upon your refusal to move to an less occupied area, possibly over barring attitudes and words were exchanged for which I would like to apologies.

If I may, allow me to recommend a number of options for you to consider in order to avoid reoccurrence of such events either at Catch Beach Club or in fact in most of the serviced parts of Surin Beach;

• make use of the central part of the beach, there, I trust you will be able and welcome to lay freely where you wish as no services are offered on this particular section of Surin Beach
• alternatively, you are naturally welcome to return to the small section of the beach that is serviced by Catch Beach Club however we would ask that you make use of the services offered such as sun chair, umbrella, towels and all related facilities, such as showers, toilets, restaurant, bar, music and décor, those come at a cost that you can use as credit for consumption
• you may also naturally visit and support any other service provider along Surin beach preferably following their individual requirement and enjoying their offerings.

I trust that you will continue to enjoy the beaches of Phuket, especially Surin which all service providers want to preserve as if not the best surely one of the best in the world. I hope to having been supportive and apologetic in providing you with an inside as to the "common practices" on Surin Beach for sure but in fact on most popular and heavily patronized beaches of Phuket, Thailand, Asia and in fact the world.

Best Regards

Olivier Gibaud

General Manager

My response:

Dear Sir: Thank you for your response. I believe you have been told that I was in the way of people coming an going, this is not true, I lay my towel down infront of large platforms that left the way clear just as it was before I got there. I was in no ones way, and I do have witnesses. I was at that end of the beach because of the fact that there were no swimmers along the center of the beach and it is safer in these waves and rips to be where other people are, which I told to Mr Nut, but he continued to harass me. I was only there for maybe an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I realize that a lot of people make their living from the beaches, however the area in front of the club was at least 90% empty, and I was in no way obstructing and in an out traffic in the four foot by two foot area I was occupying. I also do not like being told that Im a eyesore to the hotel guests because I am swimming on their beach, I too am paying to stay on the island. During your reply the only fix to this was for me to go elsewhere, or buy some services, I do buy services, both food and surfing equipment on the beach and nick nacks for some of women sellers on occasion.

Mr. Olivier Gibaud conveniently forgot to mention that the 20+ plots "allocated" to local families were allocated to them by themselves. In other words, they decided that the beach belonged to them, and justified their action with them taking care of the beach. In fact the only reason they take care of the beach is because it provides customer satisfaction which translates to higher revenue. Most other major hotels in Thailand clean the beach in front of their beachfront hotels, and none of them have had any part of the beach "allocated" to them, and they rarely attempt to throw away tourists from the beach, no matter where on the beach they are sitting.

I challenge Mr, Olivier Gibaud to show us or at least the OP just one piece of official paper from the rightful owner of the beach (HM the King / the central government) that proves that any of the mentioned families have any rights or responsibilities whatsoever to any part of any beach in Thailand incl. Surin Beach.

Remember, all those who encroach and build resorts in forest reserves around Thailand also claim they are really doing Thailand a favor by taking care of the areas and providing jobs. None of them mention that they stole the land without paying a single baht to anyone, and that their only motive is profit. The Surin beach encroaching is no different.

Mr. Olivier Gibaud, it could be that you actually believe what you wrote about dividing the beach to the local families many years ago, and it could also be that you simply do not want to lose your job, which I can understand. But I think we both know that the respectable thing to do is for you to tell your staff to leave tourists on the beach alone.

Mr Olivier Gibaud: after last days, nothing to say or point out??

[patongphil]

I received this reply to an email from the group that owns the club on the beach, below their response I will put my response to them. If I hear back again I will post it too.

My name is Olivier Gibaud and I lead the management of the varying assets and operations of Twinpalms Group in Phuket, Thailand. First of all allow me to thank you for addressing your email to me and taking the time to relate your recent experiences on Surin Beach, across Catch Beach Club.

As you are rightly pointing out, beaches in Thailand are public, in fact, so are roads, temples, parks, ect and therefore no one own them, beaches in this case have been and continue to be Phuket's jewel and one of the main reason many tourists, Phuket Residents and Thai national come to visit the southern shores of Thailand.

Allow me to speak about Surin Beach mainly as it is the beach I know best. Many years ago, the entire length of the beach was divided into 20+ spaces, those spaces usually comprise of both a land and a sand part, one large central beach space, across the public car park is mostly left un-cared for and primarily used by locals and overseas visitors to freely enjoy the sandy beach and water of Surin Beach.

The other 20+ smaller spaces located north and south of the central section were allocated to local families, providing them with the duty of care and use of individual "building" on the land side and in most cases the duty & right of caring & servicing the sandy part which lays across the building. The caring & servicing include but is not limited to daily cleaning of the sand from the water edges to the pedestrian way, the removal of debris such trees in the water, plastic, jelly fishes, ect, in some cases the planting of trees to preserve sand and shade, the supply of sun-chairs and umbrellas often made available subject to a minimal fee, the preparation, service and sale of food and drink on the beach, often coming from the supporting building across the sandy part.

In the case of Catch Beach Club, it is the result of a join venture between a number of local space holders and Twinpalms Group, those, together endeavored to provide the finest possible beach side lifestyle, now after 7 years recognized by tourists and locals and internationally by many institutions such as CNN as amongst the best beach side venues in the world. In order to do so, Catch Beach Club has been serviced by almost 100 local employees whom in-turn care for over 1'000 family members as a result of their earnings. Catch Beach Club also supports multiple local businesses supplying fruits, vegetables, seafood, water and all the daily necessities related to such servicing. This particular venue and venture is VAT registered and declares all its revenue to the local government.

My understanding of your recent experiences is that the beach caretakers of Catch Beach Club took the liberty to relocate your belonging which were laying on the sand close to sun-chairs to the side of the beach club, in an area that was free, allowing for clear view and passage from the beach club to the water, upon your refusal to move to an less occupied area, possibly over barring attitudes and words were exchanged for which I would like to apologies.

If I may, allow me to recommend a number of options for you to consider in order to avoid reoccurrence of such events either at Catch Beach Club or in fact in most of the serviced parts of Surin Beach;

• make use of the central part of the beach, there, I trust you will be able and welcome to lay freely where you wish as no services are offered on this particular section of Surin Beach
• alternatively, you are naturally welcome to return to the small section of the beach that is serviced by Catch Beach Club however we would ask that you make use of the services offered such as sun chair, umbrella, towels and all related facilities, such as showers, toilets, restaurant, bar, music and décor, those come at a cost that you can use as credit for consumption
• you may also naturally visit and support any other service provider along Surin beach preferably following their individual requirement and enjoying their offerings.

I trust that you will continue to enjoy the beaches of Phuket, especially Surin which all service providers want to preserve as if not the best surely one of the best in the world. I hope to having been supportive and apologetic in providing you with an inside as to the "common practices" on Surin Beach for sure but in fact on most popular and heavily patronized beaches of Phuket, Thailand, Asia and in fact the world.

Best Regards

Olivier Gibaud

General Manager

My response:

Dear Sir: Thank you for your response. I believe you have been told that I was in the way of people coming an going, this is not true, I lay my towel down infront of large platforms that left the way clear just as it was before I got there. I was in no ones way, and I do have witnesses. I was at that end of the beach because of the fact that there were no swimmers along the center of the beach and it is safer in these waves and rips to be where other people are, which I told to Mr Nut, but he continued to harass me. I was only there for maybe an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I realize that a lot of people make their living from the beaches, however the area in front of the club was at least 90% empty, and I was in no way obstructing and in an out traffic in the four foot by two foot area I was occupying. I also do not like being told that Im a eyesore to the hotel guests because I am swimming on their beach, I too am paying to stay on the island. During your reply the only fix to this was for me to go elsewhere, or buy some services, I do buy services, both food and surfing equipment on the beach and nick nacks for some of women sellers on occasion.

Mr. Olivier Gibaud conveniently forgot to mention that the 20+ plots "allocated" to local families were allocated to them by themselves. In other words, they decided that the beach belonged to them, and justified their action with them taking care of the beach. In fact the only reason they take care of the beach is because it provides customer satisfaction which translates to higher revenue. Most other major hotels in Thailand clean the beach in front of their beachfront hotels, and none of them have had any part of the beach "allocated" to them, and they rarely attempt to throw away tourists from the beach, no matter where on the beach they are sitting.

I challenge Mr, Olivier Gibaud to show us or at least the OP just one piece of official paper from the rightful owner of the beach (HM the King / the central government) that proves that any of the mentioned families have any rights or responsibilities whatsoever to any part of any beach in Thailand incl. Surin Beach.

Remember, all those who encroach and build resorts in forest reserves around Thailand also claim they are really doing Thailand a favor by taking care of the areas and providing jobs. None of them mention that they stole the land without paying a single baht to anyone, and that their only motive is profit. The Surin beach encroaching is no different.

Mr. Olivier Gibaud, it could be that you actually believe what you wrote about dividing the beach to the local families many years ago, and it could also be that you simply do not want to lose your job, which I can understand. But I think we both know that the respectable thing to do is for you to tell your staff to leave tourists on the beach alone.

Mr Olivier Gibaud: after last days, nothing to say or point out??

Whoo Hoo I bet his tail is between his legs now the cocky twit.

[phuketrichard]

wow what a bunch of lies from Mr, Olivier Gibaud- Twin Palms!!!

wonder what he has to say now an what, with talk they might have to take down ALL BUILDINGS on the other side of the small road as well

[suave]

Well, as the originator of this forum line, I can say that Im all giggles at the news feed pictures of Surin. Though I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of Thai comercial interests, as far as the beaches are concerned I think this will eventually attract the "Quality Tourists" again, someday, lunch will just be further back from the beach, and those beaches will again be long and unspoiled. I do feel sorry for all the Thai that are now losing jobs at the labor level untill all the dust settles.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

If I were Olivier Gibaud I would be worried that I am going to be arrested for being complicit in the occupation of public land.

Free food and a white party won't cut it this time.

[EBlair48]

And size DOES matter only a guy with a teeny weeny would say otherwise. ( Too big is no good either..)

[KarenBravo]

The Surin web-cam is up again. No bar now and I can see the sea.

[Guest]

The Surin web-cam is up again. No bar now and I can see the sea.

Before

After.

[steelepulse]

Looks like they are still getting some mileage out of that sand with those cabanas!

[suave]

They are not going to leave that space open to the public for anything, lol.

[Old Croc]

Looks like they are still getting some mileage out of that sand with those cabanas!

Bloody eyesores!

Why are they allowed to leave those pieces of furniture on the beach?

Perhaps some members should head down there and make themselves comfortable on any structure found on the public beach.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Old Croc

[beechbum]

no sand cabanas there at the mo

[hkt83100]

The Surin web-cam is up again. No bar now and I can see the sea.

Before ...

After. ...

And now get rid of that IKEA junk. :-(