Half of resorts on Koh Tao face eviction

[Thaivisa News]

Bangkok: - The Treasury Department plans to evict about half of 128 resorts on Koh Tao, Surat Thani.

Barely 10 per cent of buildings and plots have legal sanctions while most resorts do not have proper land lease agreements, department director general Chakkrit Parapanthakul said.

Chakkrit was speaking after his inspection of treasury plots on the island, a popular destination for foreign tourists.

He said the plots were designated for residential use for island settlers some 30 years ago. But a large number of plots had been subleased to resort operators, he said.

In regard to settlers who encroached on the banned zone, he said he would consult relevant agencies before deciding whether to evict them.

A number of resorts encroached on the watershed areas. Certain resorts were built on plots banned for public places.

The cost of "illegally" leasing Koh Tao plots soared to about 30 million baht per rai despite the lack of land ownership documents.

The department has set a highest priority to evict resorts built in watershed areas and mountain slopes. The built outside the designated zone for public places would also face eviction.

For those resorts without proper land lease agreements but built within the proper zoning, the department will negotiate a new lease with the operators.

The Surat Thani tourism office has estimated that visitors spend some 6 billion baht per year on the island.

All plots on the island are under the department's jurisdiction. Koh Tao is a popular destination for divers.

The island has 4,000 rooms for tourist accommodation and 45 diving centers.

[Thaddeus]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

[clockman]

The islands Mafia, I would say that due to corruption. Every island is controlled is controlled by Thai mafia.. Nothing changes.

[Mr Somtam]

I would be careful and make myself unrecognisable evicting those people. Might get a hoe in the neck...

[Costas2008]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

[Sarathi]

So this is what the bomb was about.

[graemeaylward]

Do government departments talk to each other? Just think of the ramifications of these closures. Tourism down, unemployment up, workers from other countries no longer have valid work permits, ferry companies lose revenue etc. Presumably perpetrators will also face heavy fine or imprisonment adding to state costs! I'm not against action but think plans need to be worked out carefully between relevant departments

[butch333]

fine , can clean the beach of Hua Hin too , all the constructions and the sea food restaurants who buit over the beach from the fishing port to the small wat before the Hilton . all the constructions on the left side of the roads in the direction of the center of Hua Hin seems to be illegals .

[angsta]

I'll believe it when I see it. Was once such a beautiful place and now it's the backpacker murder capital. ?

[Oziex1]

Good luck with this?

The people of influence are well connected there.

[Anthony5]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

[thedudeabides]

And where does this information come from?

[Pattaya28]

This entire plan is designed for 1 reason. And we all know what that reason is. "Money-Shuffling"

[Thaddeus]

Do government departments talk to each other? Just think of the ramifications of these closures. Tourism down, unemployment up, workers from other countries no longer have valid work permits, ferry companies lose revenue etc. Presumably perpetrators will also face heavy fine or imprisonment adding to state costs! I'm not against action but think plans need to be worked out carefully between relevant departments

Do the power company talk to the telecoms company and the water company when they want to dig a hole, nope, and that's just trivial stuff.

(doesn't just happen here either)

[Bakseeda]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

This present government has succeeded in many areas Anthony ... from corruption to land encroachment and now have lifted Martial Law. But the main success was to rid this country of the Shinewatras and their band of theives.. The General deserves a medal , but one man can only do so much and he needs the help of all Thai citizens to try and sort what is wrong in Thailand.. as John Lennon said... "give peace a chance"

[JLCrab]

General Purpose ThaiVisa response: Boo -- Hiss -- How dumb do they think we are -- Yea ... When pigs fly -- I'll believe it when I see it -- Your Mama -- And if you believe that one, I've got a bridge to sell -- Money talks; nobody walks -- ...

[arthurwait]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

[jamesjohnsonthird]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

This present government has succeeded in many areas Anthony ... from corruption to land encroachment and now have lifted Martial Law. But the main success was to rid this country of the Shinewatras and their band of theives.. The General deserves a medal , but one man can only do so much and he needs the help of all Thai citizens to try and sort what is wrong in Thailand.. as John Lennon said... "give peace a chance"

John Lennon would not be pleased with the Junta and you sir need to do some homework.

[daoyai]

One junta policy I have agreed with has been to remove beach encroaching structures, Sairee beach should be cleansed of those built on sand or behind a seawall. Break the seawalls and restore the beach. They should also remind the "owners" of Au Luk, Hin Wong etc. that the beach is Crown, public land..... do you really need so many noisy smelly, dangerous longtail boats?

[off road pat]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

Anthony, ! ...Apparently, you are blind to al the examples of the past weeks/months ....

[berybert]

Once the islanders are no longer islanders they should have the courage to speak out about what happened one night last year that resulted in 2 Burmese being put in jail.

At long last the truth will out.

Lets hope they are cleared off the island before the trial starts.

[Thai at Heart]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

This present government has succeeded in many areas Anthony ... from corruption to land encroachment and now have lifted Martial Law. But the main success was to rid this country of the Shinewatras and their band of theives.. The General deserves a medal , but one man can only do so much and he needs the help of all Thai citizens to try and sort what is wrong in Thailand.. as John Lennon said... "give peace a chance"

Succeeded in many areas? Which one of these many areas have been a success. A momentary blip of media coverage and largely everything has gone back to what it was. No real progress on reform, no real progress on stopping corruption.

Just plenty of hot air and window dressing with a good dose of fundamental removal of the rights of the Thai people.

[craigt3365]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

Not trying to be controversial, but I'm soooooo happy with the sidewalks in Bangkok now. Lower Suk, during the day, has 1% of the vendors it did a year ago. Absolutely fantastic.

[ourmanflint]

I so hope this goes forward! Samui, Phangan and koh Tao need a good clean from top to bottom.

[angsta]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Time has come for them all to pay? Are you talking about the Greek government and the EU or Kho Tao??

[torpedo1970]

Best news of the week

[The manic]

They did succeed in making lower suk as ugly and boring as Salford by evicting all the traders for voting the wrong way.

[jaiyen17]

Well, with poor to no waste water management, a growing trash problem and an absolute BOOM in Diving tourism and related Dive schools over the last 10 yrs (400,000 visitors to Koh Tao this year) Thailand is facing a massive conservation challenge to preserve this natural treasure. If the sensitive coral reef is to be saved they're going to need to address uncontrolled growth as well as irresponsible diving. It is my belief that the current situation is 100% unsustainable the way it stands today. Great new video on the negative effects inexperienced divers can have on Koh Tao reefs here: "Diver Impacts - The Unspoken Threat to Coral Reefs" https://player.vimeo.com/video/124386121

[Mooner]

Let's see if the big boys on sairee beach are removed. Don't think so!

[Dogmatix]

I would be careful and make myself unrecognisable evicting those people. Might get a hoe in the neck...

Just send in the army ensuring the units are from the North or Northeast. Leave Region 8 police on the mainland.

It's about time something was done about the encroachments and the misuse of Treasury land on that evil little island. I hope criminal prosecutions will follow, along with tax investigations and asset confiscation.

I feel sorry for the Burmese workers who will be made jobless though.