Maenam Beachfront

[oldsailor35]

Just been to Maenam beach, only to discover that according to the myriad of new "Private Property keep out" signs that all the beachfront under the palm trees is the private property of the Maenam Resort. So now will have to sit on the couple of metres between palm trees and high water.

This previously was the beauty and benifit of Maenam beach as one could get shade, but it is now for guests only, approximately 30 mtrs back under the trees to their bungalows.

Edited September 30, 2014 by oldsailor35

[mika]

There is NO privat beach in Thailand. The beach belong to the king and the people!

[daveAustin]

^^^ Try telling that to the security guards of these multi-million baht resorts.

[samuijimmy]

These are the signs OS35 are referring too, very tacky in my opinion....too..... why these resorts think they can try to keep beach areas in front of their resorts "private" is beyond me...

This is at the end of Maenam Resort Road, thank goodness there are several more kilometers of Maenam beach one can use, without this... are their guests that special?,

I think not!!

Edited September 30, 2014 by samuijimmy

[Tropicalevo]

^^^ Try telling that to the security guards of these multi-million baht resorts.

Just ask the guards to call the police. (Tourist police if you do not speak Thai.)

They try roping off various sections on Chaweng Beach as well - I just step over the ropes.

The only tricky bit from Jimmy's photo is where does the beach start/end. I would think that the coconut trees are the boundary (they usually are) so in that photo, the signs could be valid.

Nothing to stop you sitting or walking on the beach below the trees though.

[samuijimmy]

^^^ Try telling that to the security guards of these multi-million baht resorts.

Just ask the guards to call the police. (Tourist police if you do not speak Thai.)

They try roping off various sections on Chaweng Beach as well - I just step over the ropes.

The only tricky bit from Jimmy's photo is where does the beach start/end. I would think that the coconut trees are the boundary (they usually are) so in that photo, the signs could be valid.

Nothing to stop you sitting or walking on the beach below the trees though.

Yes, it can be hard to tell where the line really is.... Officially high tide mark, I believe ... but that varies at different times of year... In November it can go way up beyond the coconuts trees !

so it's a bit of an open question... .....

Just because they planted coconut trees years ago, does it make it their private beach..... ?

Good thing there are nicer areas of Maenam beach or even Ban Tai or Ban Por beaches not too far away! .... even though that area is close to where I live, I prefer other areas! .

[Tropicalevo]

It is easy to confuse beach with sandy ground!!!!

it is a tradition that the coconut trees were planted on the land boudaries. (There were no chanote pegs back in the dark ages.)

Then - when two coconut plantations were adjacent to each other, they would each plant a tree on the boundary. Hence the 'double coconut tree' bounderies.

Of course, Nor Sor Sam is only accurate to within a metre or two. Other land titles even less so and so the other tradition kicked in. The 'moving the boundary in the middle of the night to steal a bit from your neighbour' tradition.

This tradition carries on today. Some of my own chanote pegs have moved a number of times, but as I have photographs, the pegs always find their original resting place.

I think that you are correct with the statement regarding the high water mark being the boundary Jimmy - but as you say, with erosion and 'moving trees' the existing tree line would probably be the accepted boundary.

[PattayaPhom]

These are the signs OS35 are referring too, very tacky in my opinion....too..... why these resorts think they can try to keep beach areas in front of their resorts "private" is beyond me...

This is at the end of Maenam Resort Road, thank goodness there are several more kilometers of Maenam beach one can use, without this... are their guests that special?,

I think not!!

The way the signs are facing implies no entry to the resort from the beach...unless of course you are a guest...The beach itself is not an issue.

[islandguy]

This resort is owned by a long time local family. In my opinion, very nice people I have known slightly for 15 years. They have had a lot of problems with tourists and expats walking through their property and using their restaurant area and the area in front of their bungalows as if it were public land. This has included idiots changing clothes with no cover at the tables that are next to the walkway and staying all day at those tables without ordering anything at all from the restaurant. Some of this problem may have gone down with the reduction in Russian visitors since that was the worst group of offenders last winter when my friends stayed there for a month. As most of us know, it is not easy to have your Thai staff make such people move. I am sure the signs are to indicate that you shouldn't go from the beach into their resort if you are not a customer. As far as to whether some of the coconut trees are on the beach rather than being on private land, that is a very good question. Anybody know the relevant laws? Anything to do with coconuts must be codified around here.

[oldsailor35]

^^^ Try telling that to the security guards of these multi-million baht resorts.

Just ask the guards to call the police. (Tourist police if you do not speak Thai.)

They try roping off various sections on Chaweng Beach as well - I just step over the ropes.

The only tricky bit from Jimmy's photo is where does the beach start/end. I would think that the coconut trees are the boundary (they usually are) so in that photo, the signs could be valid.

Nothing to stop you sitting or walking on the beach below the trees though.

Yes, it can be hard to tell where the line really is.... Officially high tide mark, I believe ... but that varies at different times of year... In November it can go way up beyond the coconuts trees !

so it's a bit of an open question... .....

Just because they planted coconut trees years ago, does it make it their private beach..... ?

Good thing there are nicer areas of Maenam beach or even Ban Tai or Ban Por beaches not too far away! .... even though that area is close to where I live, I prefer other areas! .

Well, i like Maenam beach because i can swim there, but although i like Bang Por, the water is very shallow and there are reefs there whereas Maenam the bottom is sandy and gets quite deep.

[oldsailor35]

^^^ Try telling that to the security guards of these multi-million baht resorts.

Just ask the guards to call the police. (Tourist police if you do not speak Thai.)

They try roping off various sections on Chaweng Beach as well - I just step over the ropes.

The only tricky bit from Jimmy's photo is where does the beach start/end. I would think that the coconut trees are the boundary (they usually are) so in that photo, the signs could be valid.

Nothing to stop you sitting or walking on the beach below the trees though.

Yes, it can be hard to tell where the line really is.... Officially high tide mark, I believe ... but that varies at different times of year... In November it can go way up beyond the coconuts trees !

so it's a bit of an open question... .....

Just because they planted coconut trees years ago, does it make it their private beach..... ?

Good thing there are nicer areas of Maenam beach or even Ban Tai or Ban Por beaches not too far away! .... even though that area is close to where I live, I prefer other areas! .

Yes Jimmy, the water does come up at certain times, you can see where the sand has been washed away from the Palm tree roots. Even though the high water mark is not there all the time, the measurement is taken from the highest point. So is it their beach or the Kings ?

[oldsailor35]

This resort is owned by a long time local family. In my opinion, very nice people I have known slightly for 15 years. They have had a lot of problems with tourists and expats walking through their property and using their restaurant area and the area in front of their bungalows as if it were public land. This has included idiots changing clothes with no cover at the tables that are next to the walkway and staying all day at those tables without ordering anything at all from the restaurant. Some of this problem may have gone down with the reduction in Russian visitors since that was the worst group of offenders last winter when my friends stayed there for a month. As most of us know, it is not easy to have your Thai staff make such people move. I am sure the signs are to indicate that you shouldn't go from the beach into their resort if you are not a customer. As far as to whether some of the coconut trees are on the beach rather than being on private land, that is a very good question. Anybody know the relevant laws? Anything to do with coconuts must be codified around here.

A few years ago, i inquired if the restaurant could be used by non residents, and yes they were very happy to take my money, especially in the down season time. So i cannot understand why they are upset about non residents having a morning cup of coffee at the restaurant, nice family or not !

Incidentially, if Jimmy had walked further down along the coconut trees he would have got a shot where the water is just about up to the coconut trees with a fairly deep drop into the water ! So to avoid trespassing one would have been forced to wade in the sea.

[oldsailor35]

^^^ Try telling that to the security guards of these multi-million baht resorts.

Just ask the guards to call the police. (Tourist police if you do not speak Thai.)

They try roping off various sections on Chaweng Beach as well - I just step over the ropes.

The only tricky bit from Jimmy's photo is where does the beach start/end. I would think that the coconut trees are the boundary (they usually are) so in that photo, the signs could be valid.

Nothing to stop you sitting or walking on the beach below the trees though.

There are no frontal property posts, have these all been conveniently removed ? AS for sitting in the sun, well that is for holiday makers, residents get enough thanks.

Edited October 1, 2014 by oldsailor35

[oldsailor35]

Ju

dging by the number of "over reached" beachfront boundaries that the Army discovered on Phuket. I should imagine that most of these long term local owners would have marked their own boundaries many many years ago possibly by just planting coconut trees close to the waterline.

[oldsailor35]

I do have one big gripe.    That is, how can resort owners charge  simple massage ladies, sometimes very big rates just to have a massage table on the beach opposite their resorts. I know of one resort ( An Old Samui family) who was charging Bht 27000. per month a couple of years ago. The massage lady did have 8 beds in a row, but the resort family  definitely does not own Cheong Mon beach.

[PoorSucker]

Missed one day with digging up a two year old thread oldsailor35.