Phuket beach restaurant owners demand fair treatment

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Phuket beach restaurant owners demand fair treatment
Eakkapop Thongtub


Owner of The Beach Club, Aroon Paewpanchoo, along with 14 restaurant owners appeal for justice.

PHUKET: -- A group of restaurant and beach club owners whose properties at Nai Yang Beach were demolished in the NCPO's beach clean up operation earlier this year have appealed to the Prime Minister for justice, claiming they have been treated unfairly as it had previously been proven in court that they had not encroached on public land.

Owner of The Beach Club, Aroon Paewpanchoo, along with 14 restaurant owners made the appeal in a message for PM Prayuth Chan-ocha on Sunday (November 23).

“Many people have suffered after Sakoo OrBorTor issued orders to demolish the buildings at Nai Yang Beach. We knew the OrBorTor was only acting on orders from the NCPO to get rid of illegal structures on public land, but let's be fair here,” said Aroon.

They [sakoo OrBorTor] knew that some of us were waiting for the the results of court hearings on the demolition issue but they came and tore down the buildings anyway,” he said.

According to Aroon, many buildings along Nai Yang Beach were investigated for encroachment and subsequently cleared in lengthy court cases 13 years ago.

“I want justice. I want to let the Prime Minister know that residents are being harassed because of the NCPO order to deal with illegal encroachment... But the courts already gave us the right to be here,” said Aroon.

“Some of us have been living here for 20 or 30 years. It's not right for the city and Sakoo local administration to accuse us of illegal encroachment in the middle of an ongoing investigation,” he said.

“If, however, it is judged by the courts that the land is actually public land, then we would have torn down the places ourselves, without the help of government officials.” he added.

Aroon said he was puzzled that the OrBorTor said his building was unsafe and was built without permission, only after receiving the NCPO's orders, demanding to know why such accusations were never made in the 22 years his beach club had been operating.

Aroon claimed he and the 14 other owners had followed correct procedure by appealing against the demolition within the required 30 days of the announcement. However, the OrBorTor began demolition anyway, he said.

“The officials should just wait for the court's decision. We have the right to seek justice. If it turns out the court favours the city officials and the OrBorTor, then we will comply with that decision,” he concluded.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-beach-restaurant-owners-demand-fair-treatment-49794.php


-- Phuket News 2014-11-24

[Tatsujin]

"Aroon said he was puzzled that the OrBorTor said his building was unsafe and was built without permission, only after receiving the NCPO's orders, demanding to know why such accusations were never made in the 22 years his beach club had been operating."

I'll give you a clue ... those Police officers and Govt Officials you've been bribing for years have been transferred or are under the spotlight and no longer able to protect you. Next.

[junk1e]

There does appear to be one rule for some and another rule for others particularly on Nai yang Beach. I visited the other day expecting to see the beach completely cleared. To my surprise there is actually construction going on right on the beach, and most of the concrete buildings remain and are operating normally. One section of the beach which was mainly local Thai thatched structures has completely gone. My understanding is that all Thai beaches are public land and it is illegal to build on them. The same can be seen on other beaches. Layan beach has been completely cleared of all local restaurants, even those that were not actually on the beach itself, yet the large Nikki beach club which is actually on the beach remains untouched?

[RustBucket]

Phuket beach restaurant owners demand fair treatment.

We can prove that we have been breaking the law for 22 years, and so we are in the right on this issue and it is only fair to let us continue to break the same laws.

We are pig sick that we have paid lots of money in bribes over the years for the justice system to forget a beach is 'public land'. You can't stage a coup and then wake up to that reality.... It's just not the way it is done here in Thailand.... disgraceful to remove our ability to sell a 25 baht plate of krapow gai to farangs for 180 baht.

Now for a reality check.

If the fact they have been encroaching illegally for 22 years by their own admission is in fact proven to be true. They should all be immediately charged with running illegal businesses and bribery and handed 10 year prison sentences, and see how many more come out of the woodwork with similar hilarious justifications for crimes.

Edited November 24, 2014 by RustBucket

[MockingJay]

Is it naivity or stupidity to expect fair treatment from a junta "government"?

[IamNoone88]

They need to read the book "Who Moved my Cheese". Time to find another career and stop complaining. They ran an illegal business for 22 years.

[The manic]

They need to read the book "Who Moved my Cheese". Time to find another career and stop complaining. They ran an illegal business for 22 years.

They provided a much needed service for years. They are not criminals just because they did not come from the wealthy elite who stitched this country up. They are the Thai people who have a right to make a living.

[Just1Voice]

They need to read the book "Who Moved my Cheese". Time to find another career and stop complaining. They ran an illegal business for 22 years.

They provided a much needed service for years. They are not criminals just because they did not come from the wealthy elite who stitched this country up. They are the Thai people who have a right to make a living.

They are the Thai people who have a right to make LEGAL a living.

[Emster23]

Demolish all the illegal construction. "Fair treatment" would never allowed them to build in the first place. What they think is "fair" is unfair to the real owners, the Thai people. Just a thought: also tear down buildings owned by corrupt officials who took the bribes and financed their mini palaces off the house that Jack built.

[maidee]

they have made enough illegal money with an illegal business that never should have been there in the first place...

nag nag nag ...

[jpeg]

They are the Thai people who have a right to make LEGAL a living.

Funny. What's 'legal' here?

[Benmart]

They need to read the book "Who Moved my Cheese". Time to find another career and stop complaining. They ran an illegal business for 22 years.

They provided a much needed service for years. They are not criminals just because they did not come from the wealthy elite who stitched this country up. They are the Thai people who have a right to make a living.

"Much needed" or perhaps convenient? I don't know if anyone would or has starved without these businesses. I'm not an expert.

If a crime is commited, then the person doing so is usually regarded as a criminal. I don't know if a crime was commited since I'm not an expert of this issue.

Having the right to make a living seems reasonable enough. Doing it within the law is generally the path most people take. I don't know if that is the case here since I don't know details and am not an expert on such matters.

Seems that I don't know a lot about this. I rely on those with first hand experience, expertise and Thai legal credentials to enlighten me.

[oldsailor35]

"Aroon said he was puzzled that the OrBorTor said his building was unsafe and was built without permission, only after receiving the NCPO's orders, demanding to know why such accusations were never made in the 22 years his beach club had been operating."

I'll give you a clue ... those Police officers and Govt Officials you've been bribing for years have been transferred or are under the spotlight and no longer able to protect you. Next.

Someone needs to have a look at who he has paid bribes to over the last 22 years and also what tax he has paid in that time. If there is an anomaly then it should be clawed back !

[oldsailor35]

Phuket beach restaurant owners demand fair treatment.

We can prove that we have been breaking the law for 22 years, and so we are in the right on this issue and it is only fair to let us continue to break the same laws.

We are pig sick that we have paid lots of money in bribes over the years for the justice system to forget a beach is 'public land'. You can't stage a coup and then wake up to that reality.... It's just not the way it is done here in Thailand.... disgraceful to remove our ability to sell a 25 baht plate of krapow gai to farangs for 180 baht.

Now for a reality check.

If the fact they have been encroaching illegally for 22 years by their own admission is in fact proven to be true. They should all be immediately charged with running illegal businesses and bribery and handed 10 year prison sentences, and see how many more come out of the woodwork with similar hilarious justifications for crimes.

Plus 22 years of back rent to the council.

[Nuddy]

It is just the criminals taking over from the criminals.

The new broom sweeps clean is what it is.

So in future there will be no doubt who one has to pay and it won't be the same as before.

[Guitar God]

All they need to do is to show proof that they either own the land or show a legal lease document, if they can't they have no right to be there, period. It's not complicated.

[monkeycountry]

I don't understand why they are so upset. I am quite sure that their tax records will show that they have made little or no profit, and therefore paid little or no tax for all 22 years.

Anyway, they knew from day one that building on the beach was illegal, and they were of course aware that they had no title deed to the land. They also knew they could bribe someone to get away with building there anyway, and they knew that if it ever became a problem, then they could just stall things in court for 10-20 years, while still running their business and paying no taxes.

Fortunately the army saw through all this and put an end to their illegal businesses.

The restaurant "owners" should be thankful that they are not in jail, but if they keep complaining, then perhaps the army should consider giving them a fine and/or jail.

[monkeycountry]

This is exactly why no compromise should be made regarding beach encroachment - or any other encroachment. For deck chairs, umbrellas, jetskis etc. as well. Thais simply do not understand nor respect that there are limits to how much they can expand their business. Let them do a little business in a corner of the beach, and shortly after they will have taken up the whole beach, and given a few years, claim they now have permanent right to stay as noone stopped them in the past. To them, paying a bribe to get away with something means it is now legal, and if you sit long enough on someone elses land, it is yours, even if you don't have any paper to prove it.

Another example of the above mentality is Chaweng Beach on Samui. The owner of all of the jetskis (no name needed, his posters with his name and picture are everywhere) has long ago taken over the beach, but of course that was not enough for him. About a year ago he informed all the people who had boats etc. anchored in Chaweng Bay, in no uncertain terms that they were no longer welcome, and they have now all left for other beaches. I have no doubt, that if the army ever came to Samui, that he would be sitting like the people in the OP pix, claiming and actually believing that he owns the water in Chaweng bay.

Edited November 24, 2014 by monkeycountry

[Ulic]

We have been breaking the law for 22 years, why are you coming to us now ?

[Cake Monster]

Their demands for fair treatment have already been met by the Authorities.

The beach vendors operated outside the " law " for many years, and now the " law " has caught up with them.

Fair treatment

Edited November 25, 2014 by Cake Monster

[JimHuaHin]

For 22 years they have been breaking the law.

For 22 years they have been paying-off local officials.

For most of that time they have been ripping-off tourists.

And they demand fair treatment?

What a joke .....

[keestha]

The beach vendors operated outside the " law " for many years, and now the " law " has caught up with them.

Fair treatment

Don't know where you, and others kicking in similar posts are from, but 100% sure in your country there are also laws on the book which have not been enforced for many decades, and if they would suddenly start enforcing you might be one of those complaining.

[NamKangMan]

The beach vendors operated outside the " law " for many years, and now the " law " has caught up with them.

Fair treatment

Don't know where you, and others kicking in similar posts are from, but 100% sure in your country there are also laws on the book which have not been enforced for many decades, and if they would suddenly start enforcing you might be one of those complaining.

Sure, many countries have obscure laws that are rarely, if at all, enforced.

However, I doubt that planning, building and profitting from a commercial premises, on the sand of a main tourist beach, are some of them.

[simon43]

Can someone please explain to me why I have lived in Nai Yang for over 12 years and never recall seeing this Beach Club building prior to the tsunami, nor in the immediate years after it?

AFAI recall, it was built perhaps 6 years ago....