Phuket beach umbrella row 'was all a misunderstanding'

[webfact]

Phuket beach umbrella row 'was all a misunderstanding'
Suthicha Sirirat


Gen Pachara: It won't happen again.

PHUKET: -- Police chief Maj Gen Pachara Boonyasit has confirmed that tourists may take their own umbrellas or umbrellas rented from businesses off the beach, and erect them on the sand.

He was commenting after investigating the confusing incident on Surin Beach on Friday (November 28) when there were angry scenes as tourists were told to take down their umbrellas by a combination of OrBorTor and Marine Office officials, police and Army officers.

Gen Pachara said that after questioning police officers from Cherng Talay he learned that the Marine Office wanted to check and measure the area after some local residents filed a complaint stating that the area under the pine trees along the top of the beach was privately owned, and no public land.

The crowd of uniforms conducting the survey found that tourists’ sunbeds and umbrellas were obstructing the survey, he explained, so tourists were asked to move them out of the way for the time being.

But communication, it seems, was not the best, resulting in disgruntled tourists – believing they were being told not to bring umbrellas, chairs and sunbeds onto the beach – becoming involved in angry scenes with the assorted officials.

“It’s okay for people to put up their umbrellas on the beach, as long as it not for business purposes,” Gen Pachara said. “I can assure you that that this type of incident will never happen again.”

Quite why the army were involved in the incident has not been explained; on Thursday last week Vice-Admiral Sayan Prasongsamrej, commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, stated categorically, “The Navy’s Third Area Command now has sole responsibility for Phuket. No other arm of the military has responsibility.”

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-beach-umbrella-row-%E2%80%98was-all-a-misunderstanding%E2%80%99-49923.php


-- Phuket News 2014-12-01

[robertthebruce]

its hard to think its 2014 with all the stuff that goes on here in ''Phuket'' and in ''Thailand''..

[stevenl]

I have to admit that his excuse is really creative. And I'm surprised he even explained it, I would have expected silence.

[terryp]

dumber and dumber comes to mind

[falangjim]

Just looking at that cop's face would kill anything erect on the sand.

[rasmus5150]

Wow, a first class explanation. If Police chief Maj Gen Pachara Boonyasit get's tired of being in the police force he will have a great career as a politician.

[steelepulse]

I have to admit that his excuse is really creative. And I'm surprised he even explained it, I would have expected silence.

I have to agree, it's creative and shifts the blame to someone else. Whether anyone is buying this is another story!

[UncleE]

Again, the respondents fail to remember the main fact. Thailand is ranked 42nd of 43 countries surveyed where English is a second language. As a business owner for over 25 years in Phuket Thailand, it's completely believable there was a misunderstanding. Those of you who may speculate from the peanut gallery would be urged to remember, he says it won't happen again. The concept is good, people can bring their own umbrellas to the beach or rent them from businesses located on legally owned private property "off of the sand". This is the way it would happen on a state run beach in USA and is completely correct. No more hustlers making money on the beach. Yeah !!!!

Or maybe the pundits were suggesting the old system was better ?????????

So let's see what happens.

UncleE

[Manbing]

I smell a crackdown on a crackdown going on here.

First the crackdown on the beach umbrellas

Second the crackdown on Phuket police generating negative international press affecting the tourist industry.

Perhaps if the BiB posted staff to 'patrol' the area they could keep an eye out for locals with more than 1 umbrella and an umbrealla hire notice.

Am I too much of a blue sky thinker?

[timewilltell]

Isn't it the problem in Thailand that the laws and rules are all so open to interpretation that no one knows what they can or can't do anymore then step in the enforcers who are clueless and basically the left and right hands barely belong to the same body

[anon022]

When will they hire some officers that can actually speak - at least - English to deal with tourists on this tourist beach? Moreover, if such an incident occurs, it would not be too much trouble around there to find a English speaking Thai person to help out, would it? I guess things heated up, before anyone involved or watching thought of this?

[Time Traveller]

Ok, so no umbrellas, no bikinis. Anything else people need to know before going to the beach?

Are beach balls allowed?

Edited December 1, 2014 by Time Traveller

[makkam]

Again, the respondents fail to remember the main fact. Thailand is ranked 42nd of 43 countries surveyed where English is a second language. As a business owner for over 25 years in Phuket Thailand, it's completely believable there was a misunderstanding. Those of you who may speculate from the peanut gallery would be urged to remember, he says it won't happen again. The concept is good, people can bring their own umbrellas to the beach or rent them from businesses located on legally owned private property "off of the sand". This is the way it would happen on a state run beach in USA and is completely correct. No more hustlers making money on the beach. Yeah !!!!

Or maybe the pundits were suggesting the old system was better ?????????

So let's see what happens.

UncleE

Yikes...reasonableness in a sea of disgruntlement

[Balance]

Isn't it the problem in Thailand that the laws and rules are all so open to interpretation that no one knows what they can or can't do anymore then step in the enforcers who are clueless and basically the left and right hands barely belong to the same body

My wife has learned a fair amount of English in the 4 years we have been together and we can talk about some fairly complext topics. However, she sometimes reverts back to what I call the the built-in, or structural obfuscation of the language. It took me a year to figure out why we were having problems communicating and then one day after I had made a declarative statement about something she complained that "I should not say like that," There was nothing obvious to me that would have elicited this so I persuaded her to explain what she meant. After 2-3 months of really drilling down we agreed that Thais do not speak "directly" the way farang speak. More to the point it is culturally a no-no for a Thai to do so, and is painful because if directly at another Thai, it is likely to cause real problems with relationships, etc.

45 years ago I spent several years working in Ethiopia and learned a moderate amount of Amharic (another one-off language with its own alphabet spoken only in Ethiopia). The same situation existed to a lesser extent with this language and it was explained that the "open to interpretation" aspect of the language was there because at the end of the day relationships were more important than precision of speaking.

[The manic]

We are all in the army now. Living by arbitrary military rules.

[NamKangMan]

I have to admit that his excuse is really creative. And I'm surprised he even explained it, I would have expected silence.

I don't know which would be more embarrassing - his silence, or his "creative" BS.

[NamKangMan]

monkeys, nothing but monkeys... only that they wouldn't get the bananas for their stupidity... completely ridiculous... TIT

I was actually thinking of that saying that involves organising a boom boom in a brothel.

[Shot]

Complete BS

[williet98248]

Again, the respondents fail to remember the main fact. Thailand is ranked 42nd of 43 countries surveyed where English is a second language. As a business owner for over 25 years in Phuket Thailand, it's completely believable there was a misunderstanding. Those of you who may speculate from the peanut gallery would be urged to remember, he says it won't happen again. The concept is good, people can bring their own umbrellas to the beach or rent them from businesses located on legally owned private property "off of the sand". This is the way it would happen on a state run beach in USA and is completely correct. No more hustlers making money on the beach. Yeah !!!!

Or maybe the pundits were suggesting the old system was better ?????????

So let's see what happens.

UncleE

Well no, I don't think the pundits were suggesting the old system was better. I think they are suggesting that because the Thais have a problem with independent thinking that they took the 'no commercial sunbeds and umbrellas' to mean that no private umbrellas would be allowed either. And finally when someone actually thought about it and figured out how ridiculous it is to ban even private umbrellas that the good cop had to come up with a 'Just a misunderstanding' excuse to save the Thai face. The 'misunderstanding' is by the Thais who told the tourists they couldn't have their umbrellas on the beach. The equivalent of saying that If no vendors can sell sun lotion, food and drink on the beach then the tourists can't take their own sun lotion, food and drink on the beach either. Ridiculous. So yeah! again. No commercialization of the beaches but do it the same as on any beach in the US; any person can carry their own belongings on to the beach for their own private use.

[junk1e]

In reality there is a huge business opportunity here for local Thais. At the weekend I purchased some collapsible lightweight loungers from a guy selling them on the main highway near Talang. Tourists do not want to buy, so renting such chairs and umbrellas close to the beach which tourists then take to the beach themselves would seem a good business opportunity to me.

[samjaidee]

A professionally worded explanation for an event that is obviously embarrassing. I know nothing about Gen. Pachara or his history but to have a go at him based on this article strikes me as being irrational. It sounds to me like he has been able to defuse an awkward occurrence with aplomb.

[Cuchulainn]

And this place wants to be in ASEAN? God help it (ASEAN, I mean!!)

[mok199]

how do you know when a govt official is spining the truth..???''thier lips are moving''..

[Pinot]

It's a shame they didn't do something about the illegal mats being rented out by the clubs on the beach. The "No business on the beach rule" only applies when the military is on the beach. Soon as they go the mat business rolls back out again. When these laws aren't enforced then they're useless. Like the helmet law. Or stopping for red lights.

[SOTIRIOS]

.....welcome quality tourists.....

....shameful........

....and as for the excuse/explanation.........???

...reason to arrest innocent people.....???

...sorry.....it just does not make sense........

[ggt]

Most all of Thai rules and regulations are a Big Misunderstanding because everyone gets to interpret the rules to suit their own personal self interests which usually is swayed by the potential of gaining more corrupt baht to pad their bank accounts...

[stevenl]

.....welcome quality tourists.....

....shameful........

....and as for the excuse/explanation.........???

...reason to arrest innocent people.....???

...sorry.....it just does not make sense........

Let's stick to the facts, and don't make up any arrests.

[Nuddy]

It is just bull crap and I wonder why any one would publish it.

I imagine an overseas news agency receiving this stuff, as they would do through the wire service, rolling on the floor and laughing out loud.

And of course would not print it for fear of being a laughing stock.

[bangkokheat]

children trying to run (thailand) a big business, laughable

[raybal5]

In reality there is a huge business opportunity here for local Thais. At the weekend I purchased some collapsible lightweight loungers from a guy selling them on the main highway near Talang. Tourists do not want to buy, so renting such chairs and umbrellas close to the beach which tourists then take to the beach themselves would seem a good business opportunity to me.

Exactly correct. And to protect himself from theft, he could "sell" them to tourists for their replacement value and "buy" them back at a reduced value, the difference being the rental. That method would save him stuffing around with rental forms, collecting ID and suffering losses from theft or damage.