Video: Phuket's Surin Beach beach front being demolished

[george]

Video: Phuket's Surin Beach beach front being demolished

-- Phuket News 2014-07-19

[BigC]

In a word wow

The rough with the smooth

Must be very hard for this go through

Can imagine they have been getting away with just paying fines for years but it seems like they accept it as they seem to know they are wrong but things in Thailand can be complicated for everyone not only forangs

I hope no one has bought a beach villa for a few hundred mill

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[falkan]

sweet now his private parking turned into public parking..karma..

[JesseFrank]

Wonder when they gonna start demolishing the 101 businesses on Pattaya walking street .

[Costas2008]

The gold chain the guy, on the right, is wearing, must have cost a bomb!

Seems, they did well up to now.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Costas2008

[daoyai]

Short term pain, long term gain as the beach environment will heal and hopefully the clubs will reestablsh a bit inland, a smart business plan would be to deliver small portable tables and matts with a food and drink delivery and all removed when the meal and drinks are finished.

[thumper101]

Its a shame... I can imagine getting rid of the tatty places, but some of those clubs are quite 'high life'. They also provide a nice place to sit in the shade and have a cold beer and a snack while watching the sea lap against the shore.

Why can't the local council just force them to pay high rents and drill the money back into the local economy and that will keep people their jobs and livelihoods.

Making the beach bigger, but much less tourists will go now that there won't be any amenities for them.

Stupid really.

[CiaranO]

The word local people seems to be flaunted around a little to much - there is a guarantee that many many of these people are not local.

[steelepulse]

Its a shame... I can imagine getting rid of the tatty places, but some of those clubs are quite 'high life'. They also provide a nice place to sit in the shade and have a cold beer and a snack while watching the sea lap against the shore.

Why can't the local council just force them to pay high rents and drill the money back into the local economy and that will keep people their jobs and livelihoods.

Making the beach bigger, but much less tourists will go now that there won't be any amenities for them.

Stupid really.

>>Why can't the local council just force them to pay high rents and drill the money back into the local economy and that will keep people their jobs and livelihoods.

In case you weren't aware, they are paying high rents, it's just the money isn't going back into the local economy, unless you consider a few officals to be the "local economy". These areas were being run as personal fiefdoms and that's why they were allowed to operate.

[aussieinphuket]

i am amazed the thai man with the gold chains considers himself the LANDLORD. aren't they illegal structures and thus the reason they being removed......

therefore this man has profited illegally.................

i am a surin resident. i moved here many years ago when many of these structures were not there and you could go for a pleasant walk along the beach

at anytime of the day with you dog.... this was basically stopped when the Beach Chair/Umbrella Mafia took over...

its so nice to see, we hope the beach will stay uncluttered from chairs and umbrella and beach clubs thinking they can take over public land..

surin beach carpark we can now park again and not feel threatened every time we drove into park because one of the food vendors thought we were

blocking access to their stall....

yes we are a little upset that such a nice establishment like Catch Club had to be removed but its one rule for all - they can re-invent themselves on the other

side of the road now and everyone can have a clear unobstructed view to the beach.. maybe less Russians and violence now and they can all go to

Nikki Beach Club and walk around bare-chested there pissed up and looking for fights.... so one bad problem also solved....

Taste Restaurant our favourite on the beach may have lost the nice little sandy outdoor area they used with tables and chairs but they did not have any permanent

structures so it won't affect them much at all as their restaurant is all open to the beach so again there will be unobstructed views to the water and beach....

Pla restaurant which definitely encroached on the beach illegally in front of Taste now gone. fantastic ......... i never liked this place...

and the idiots who built a cement structure/showroom on the beach selling persian carpets...... why ?????? its gone also good....

NOW ALL WE NEED IS THE LOCAL ORBORTOR AND COUNCIL TO HAVE THE FUNDS TO FIX/REPAIR AND RECONSTRUCT THIS AREA SO ITS

NOT A MAJOR EYESORE TO ANYONE VISITING WITH SMASHED UP CONCRETE AND STEEL REBAR STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND WHICH

MUST BE CONSIDERED A SAFETY ISSUE FOR THE TOURISTS ESPECIALLY....

​to the Army - keep up the excellent work.... you did this that local Orbortor said they would try to do on numerous occasions but never could i am sure we know why.....

[Headgame]

I come from Southern California and can assure you the beaches are pristine. Same as in Australia. Doesn't stop thousands of people enjoying them every day.

For Phuket, it will be necessary to go back to "ground zero", get rid of everything illegal, develop good land use policies and have them deployed and enforced.

Preserving the beaches is in the long term best interests of Phuket. You will never see a picture of a beach in a Thai brochure with beach vendors, loungers five deep, etc. They show pictures taken years ago. Welcome back to the good, old days.

[LivinginKata]

^^

Yes, when I watched that news video report I was amazed that the 'manager' of Catch22 stated that he paid rent to the owner, the guy next to him. How can anyone own bech land.

And he used the word 'local' so many times. Implying that these locals don't have to obey Thai law.

[Oziex1]

G'day Bruce

Jobs for the local people? No Bruce for people from Myanmar and elsewhere.

[stuarty]

Those cabanas need to go also.

[MoonShadow]

G'day Bruce

Jobs for the local people? No Bruce for people from Myanmar and elsewhere.

You have to smile at the aussie Tourist when he said "You can't sit on the beach in Australia in a club like this...." For sure they would never let this kind of encroachment onto public land happen in Australia in the first place....can't wait for then to start on Samui......

[eezergood]

Som nam nar!!!!!!

Almost every hotel on the island is looking for staff, jobs are available people

[zaZa9]

Work went further yesterday , with the monstrous additions to Nok restaurant , and absolute eyesore , brought down and removed in one day. The site is about 3' higher than its neighbours and that needs addressing.

At the South end, the beach lane was blocked in the afternoon as a large Cat and backhoes demolished another aberration , the concrete overhang of 'Pearl of Surin' , built by the 'owner' , an ex director of TAT , of all things! One wonders if they will make her remove her guest rooms as well.

.... Little pink and white "Love Love Bar " out on the point is now gone as well.

"Bimi" is trying it on with a heavy presence of furniture on its previous beach site , it could be argued that its large '4 poster' day beds are not really removable , and therefore constitute 'permanent structures'.

A person 'in the know' told me Catch earned about a million baht in a good day in high season , and whatever way it was looked at they had made a lot of money.

All of these Beach Clubs have largish land side buildings , and are in no way going to fold and disappear ...they will still use the land under the trees opposite and indeed are already trying to do so.

[stevenl]

Its a shame... I can imagine getting rid of the tatty places, but some of those clubs are quite 'high life'. They also provide a nice place to sit in the shade and have a cold beer and a snack while watching the sea lap against the shore.

Why can't the local council just force them to pay high rents and drill the money back into the local economy and that will keep people their jobs and livelihoods.

Making the beach bigger, but much less tourists will go now that there won't be any amenities for them.

Stupid really.

So places you like can stay and others have to go.

[Jimi007]

Its a shame... I can imagine getting rid of the tatty places, but some of those clubs are quite 'high life'. They also provide a nice place to sit in the shade and have a cold beer and a snack while watching the sea lap against the shore.

Why can't the local council just force them to pay high rents and drill the money back into the local economy and that will keep people their jobs and livelihoods.

Making the beach bigger, but much less tourists will go now that there won't be any amenities for them.

Stupid really.

I guess you don't get it. These places were built illegally on public land (the King's land) for private profit. The "locals" thought they were above the law as they just paid off local officials to do whatever they wanted. There is now a new sheriff in town, called the Thai Army and they are finally enforcing the law, thankfully!

[NamKangMan]

^^

Yes, when I watched that news video report I was amazed that the 'manager' of Catch22 stated that he paid rent to the owner, the guy next to him. How can anyone own bech land.

And he used the word 'local' so many times. Implying that these locals don't have to obey Thai law.

I was surprised at that as well.

How can he be the "landlord" of land he can not, and does not, own?

He's obviously just the bagman for officials that allowed these illegal constructions on public land.

[simon43]

Why are those cabanas still on the public beach? Someone should call the army to go and remove them.

This is probably the one and only chance to reclaim the beaches - let these 'scum' get a foothold now and you won't shift them....

[kwaussie]

One of my favorite beaches returning to be more beautiful, dont mind walking further for food and drink, the displaced workers will always find work.

[tingtongteesood]

Its a shame... I can imagine getting rid of the tatty places, but some of those clubs are quite 'high life'. They also provide a nice place to sit in the shade and have a cold beer and a snack while watching the sea lap against the shore.

Why can't the local council just force them to pay high rents and drill the money back into the local economy and that will keep people their jobs and livelihoods.

Making the beach bigger, but much less tourists will go now that there won't be any amenities for them.

Stupid really.

The amenities are still there, just 30 feet further away, oh no ! SO far to walk !

They knew it was all illegal when they built it, they get zero sympathy from me....

Good job Prayuth and Co.

[Payboy]

My heart bleeds for these "locals" - NOT !

[Alwyn]

G'day Bruce

Jobs for the local people? No Bruce for people from Myanmar and elsewhere.

You have to smile at the aussie Tourist when he said "You can't sit on the beach in Australia in a club like this...." For sure they would never let this kind of encroachment onto public land happen in Australia in the first place....can't wait for then to start on Samui......

That's probably why there are so many Aussies in Thailand. So they can sit in the shade on the beach and have a fruit juice and some lunch...

[BigC]

They have strength of character to keep calm an accept what's happening

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[phuketandsee]

I only hope that 6 months from now the beach hasn't been claimed by a bunch of tacky Thai restaurants and massage joints

[NamKangMan]

I only hope that 6 months from now the beach hasn't been claimed by a bunch of tacky Thai restaurants and massage joints

Hopefully, the Thai Army will still be here in 6 months time.

[aussieinphuket]

i was told by a local person who has lived in phuket for a long time, one lady who owned a bar just near the surin beach car park (i know the name but will keep it p&c) and it was only about

2 years old paid the orbortor 15 mill thb for the beach land...... now her new bar has been bulldozed and rightfully it should be, but goes to show where the money was going...............

[aussieinphuket]

we have also been told by a local contractor doing work on some of the high end villas in Surin up on the hills like Ayara Hilltops and another new villa being built on the road

going from surin up the hill to Laem Singh on the right side to cease work these are illegal.... as this is national forest area...... rumours have been the army has been going around

the coast by boat taking photos of so called illegal developments or villas built either to close to the beach or on what they consider as national forest land...

i just hope the new villas called Vertigo right up high on surin hills have got their paperwork right as when you look up surely they are above the height restriction and definitely looks

like forest area to me.....

also the new 20 million USD villa being build on the rocks/cliff at the south end of surin beach.... fingers crossed you are not illegal also....