Phuket beaches now return to natural beauty for relaxation and visits

[Lite Beer]

Phuket beaches now return to natural beauty for relaxation and visits

PHUKET: -- Intensive efforts by the military junta or officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to reclaim public land that were intruded upon and occupied by influential people throughout the country have yielded success, particularly at the Had Naiyang beachfront in Phuket province.

The beach has now returned to its natural beauty same as it appeared several decades ago with all eyesore makeshift and permanent structures vanishing.

After the NCPO carried out a campaign to reclaim public areas that have been taken over by small shops and businesses throughout the country, many areas have now been returned to local residents.

One location in particular is the Had Naiyang beach front where only during the latter part of the year more than 20 restaurants, pubs, beer-bars and souvenir shops could be seen spread out on its entire stretch.

But now the scene is totally different with the area having been returned completely to the public – both local residents and tourists for use as a rest area.

Had Naiyang beach is an open public area that is approximately one kilometre in length but in the past had been taken over by numerous vendors and small businesses.

Today, the entire area has been reclaimed by the government and the many shops and restaurants have now been evicted. It is now an area where both locals and foreign tourists can visit to rest and relax.

Sakoo Tambon Administration Organization (Or Bor Tor) deputy Chief Surin Yotharak revealed that for many decades ago the Had Naiyang beachfront had been taken over by operators and small businesses who constructed shops and restaurants to take advantage of the boom in tourism.

He related that many attempts were made to have the structures dismantled but the effort met with little success. It was not until the NCPO came into power before the area was rightly returned to the public.

He said main reason that any policy to regulate the beach in the past failed because local politicians feared of losing voters-base, political connections, and corruption which then forced a compromise in the policies.

But actual change only began to take place on May 22, 2014 when the military junta took power.

This change did not however come easily as even though many operators dismantled their buildings willingly in exchange for non-prosecution, many others refused and filed an appeal for temporary stay of execution with the Phuket Provincial Court at the end of 2014.

But the Phuket Provincial Court finally overruled the appeal in August 2015 after it was clearly determined that the Naiyang beach front was indeed public property.

But he said this did not mean that the operators are now denied a place to run their businesses as the entire group that was evicted from Had Naiyang beach have now started their respective businesses in a new legal location set aside as a commercial district.

The area is relatively close to Had Naiyang beach which now sees increased numbers of visitors who are now able to appreciate the natural beauty of the beachfront in its entirety.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/phuket-beaches-now-return-to-natural-beauty-for-relaxation-and-visits

-- Thai PBS 2015-09-26

[inzman]

Good news, but still many more beaches to go.

[gamini]

Thanks to the Junta, I can now go back to Phuket for my holiday. Please keep up the good work General Prayuth!

[Pinot]

The beaches are so beautiful now that they're not parking lots for beach chairs. Beautiful beaches and there has been a significant dent made in the corruption. Everything was for sale before the coup. Again, thank you PM.

[burgdawg]

....Pattaya beach to be reclaimed and restored? Or not a chance?

[Yahooka]

Is the water cleaner too ?

[LivinginKata]

Is the water cleaner too ?

No

[Thian]

Are there english speaking lifeguards and taxi's with metres? If not then we won't come.

[laban]

All the beach mafia types have now retreated to the streets, which makes Phuket worst.

[regfrancis]

Cleaning up the water should be top priority

heres a solution:

http://filmtheatres.com/sea-thailand-film-festival-pattaya-march-2016/

[farangmick]

How can I rest and relax on a beach if I can't get a cold beer?

[madmitch]

Sorry, but this article is nothing more than Government propaganda. Look at the source. Just one point of view.

No mention of the jetskis whose operators continue to rule the roost at several beaches.

[robertthebruce]

nobody at any beach today, its ''Clacking'' it down....

[tuanku]

What about the big hotels on every cape and vantage point? How many of those were built on public land, with or without fake title documents? What about the housing developments on the slopes above the beaches. Isn't there a rule somewhere about mountain (i.e.steeply sloping) land being owned by the nation? I would like to see some of these bigger players also being put under the microscope. Its easy enough to tackle the small guys.

[springheeled jack]

really makes you think it needed the army to clear the beach areas of illegal operators people who had been there 20 years or more Phuket council couldn't do it because there was a conflict of opinion and it might have upset the local mps .

[elgordo38]

Is the water cleaner too ?

No

Its postcard picture perfect what more do you want? You can send these postcards to your friends and say "You all come" worry about water quality later alligator.

[GR8fun in LOS]

All the beach mafia types have now retreated to the streets, which makes Phuket worst.

Yes how many streets and footpaths are cluttered or blocked for pedestrian access due to Travel Agencie Booths, Currency Exchanges, Motor Bike hire and assorted other forms of businesses?

Many of the shop owners claim they own their building and all the gutter areas and footpath, if there is actually one.

I thought the Roads and the Footpaths were similar to the beaches and all owned by the KING, is that correct? Surely there should be some control but I suppose little brown envelopes with Tea Money may well have changed hands, on numerous occasions.

But as everybody tells me TiT and many of the Thais could not give rats ar.... about anybody but themselves.

[Guest]

Sorry, but this article is nothing more than Government propaganda. Look at the source. Just one point of view.

No mention of the jetskis whose operators continue to rule the roost at several beaches.

I can disagree about many things with the Junta, but clearing the beaches has been one thing which has been a step to the correct direction.

Yes, the jetskis are still running amok, but maybe not the way what did happen when JJ was in the news.

The beaches has improved a lot since the time when everything was run by the pure greed.

I have not heard a lot of complains about the tuk-tuk drivers for the past one year. I used to wish that the military would take care of the tuk-tuk mafia. I guess they did that. Has there been any major incidents or has the news been suppressed? It's also possible that I simply did not pay an attention to the negative news the way I did before.

I personally don't care who does what, as long as things are progressing to right direction. In Phuket's case, I think the island is slowly healing.

[NamKangMan]

really makes you think it needed the army to clear the beach areas of illegal operators people who had been there 20 years or more Phuket council couldn't do it because there was a conflict of opinion and it might have upset the local mps .

I agree.

It would be quite funny, if it wasn't so tragic, that all of this, and a whole lot more, was allowed to take place, right in front of police, over several years, and it now takes military intervention to uphold the law on Phuket.

[Alwyn]

Nowhere to enjoy an ice cold beer; Nowhere to take a dump (unless you're Chinese then the big blue stuff near the sand works); No place to shower; No place for lunch, No place to shelter as parasols/umbrellas are forbidden.. Nice. Goa seems to work okay with beach shacks as does Brazil and Bali etc.. most places actually except Australia - which I reckon is why they all come to Thailand!

[NamKangMan]

Sorry, but this article is nothing more than Government propaganda. Look at the source. Just one point of view.

No mention of the jetskis whose operators continue to rule the roost at several beaches.

I can disagree about many things with the Junta, but clearing the beaches has been one thing which has been a step to the correct direction.

Yes, the jetskis are still running amok, but maybe not the way what did happen when JJ was in the news.

The beaches has improved a lot since the time when everything was run by the pure greed.

I have not heard a lot of complains about the tuk-tuk drivers for the past one year. I used to wish that the military would take care of the tuk-tuk mafia. I guess they did that. Has there been any major incidents or has the news been suppressed? It's also possible that I simply did not pay an attention to the negative news the way I did before.

I personally don't care who does what, as long as things are progressing to right direction. In Phuket's case, I think the island is slowly healing.

"as long as things are progressing to right direction" - but it's not really progressing at all, is it?

All that has occurred is the Thai military enforcing the law.

In my opinion, winding back criminality, isn't exactly progressing. It's just returning the beaches to what they should have always been. In any case, what else has the Thai military done here?

When I hear the word "progress" I usually look to improvements in critical infastructure. Eg. electric, roads, education, medical, policing, telecommunications etc etc.

If we are talking about Phuket progressing in relation to the tourism industry, I can only see it struggling, not progressing.

[NamKangMan]

Nowhere to enjoy an ice cold beer; Nowhere to take a dump (unless you're Chinese then the big blue stuff near the sand works); No place to shower; No place for lunch, No place to shelter as parasols/umbrellas are forbidden.. Nice. Goa seems to work okay with beach shacks as does Brazil and Bali etc.. most places actually except Australia - which I reckon is why they all come to Thailand!

It was the greed here that saw the "shacks" become permanent concrete constructions, and the beach lounge vendors not allowing people with a towel to lay on the beach, without paying.

It got way out of hand.

[lavender19]

Thanks to the Junta, I can now go back to Phuket for my holiday. Please keep up the good work General Prayuth!

Yes good to see Phuket beaches regressing to what they were 10 years ago.Pity they are regressing Thailand back 10 years though

[Thian]

Thanks to the Junta, I can now go back to Phuket for my holiday. Please keep up the good work General Prayuth!

Yes good to see Phuket beaches regressing to what they were 10 years ago.Pity they are regressing Thailand back 10 years though

20 years ago it was not safe at the beaches in Phuket after dark.

And in daytime there were many of those paragliding company's with their lines going over the beach so you had to watch out for them all the time.

[steelepulse]

Nowhere to enjoy an ice cold beer; Nowhere to take a dump (unless you're Chinese then the big blue stuff near the sand works); No place to shower; No place for lunch, No place to shelter as parasols/umbrellas are forbidden.. Nice. Goa seems to work okay with beach shacks as does Brazil and Bali etc.. most places actually except Australia - which I reckon is why they all come to Thailand!

Enforcement of the no beer is non existent, I agree about not having enough public facilities on the beaches. Plenty of restaurants close by virtually every beach, so not sure where you get the notion of no place for lunch. Bring your own parasol/umbrella, they are not forbidden, and every beach does have a section where you can rent umbrellas, so all in all, the only correct statement in your post is that some beaches don't have public facilities, while other beaches do, though not nearly enough.

[Alwyn]

Nowhere to enjoy an ice cold beer; Nowhere to take a dump (unless you're Chinese then the big blue stuff near the sand works); No place to shower; No place for lunch, No place to shelter as parasols/umbrellas are forbidden.. Nice. Goa seems to work okay with beach shacks as does Brazil and Bali etc.. most places actually except Australia - which I reckon is why they all come to Thailand!

Enforcement of the no beer is non existent, I agree about not having enough public facilities on the beaches. Plenty of restaurants close by virtually every beach, so not sure where you get the notion of no place for lunch. Bring your own parasol/umbrella, they are not forbidden, and every beach does have a section where you can rent umbrellas, so all in all, the only correct statement in your post is that some beaches don't have public facilities, while other beaches do, though not nearly enough.

Actually, you cannot take a sun chair or parasol on to the beach except for the designated "10%" where the vendors are allowed, do no, I wasn't wrong. I go to Layan beach so tell me where I can go to a nearby restaurant for lunch or the loo now? Except the stupidly overpriced hotels I mean.... Even Nikki beach is closed!

[tigermonkey]

Sorry, but this article is nothing more than Government propaganda. Look at the source. Just one point of view.

No mention of the jetskis whose operators continue to rule the roost at several beaches.

Of course the jetskis are still carrying on. They were not a target of the Junta's visual cleanup. It was only a job of cosmetics in any case. I saw no parade of bribed police and officials being fined and sent to prison for their part in this . Even the owners of the businesses and shops were only mildly inconvenienced by being deprived of something that was never theirs. They kept the profits of years of illegal activity.

Only the beaches have been cleaned. The leaches and vermin have merely been relocated

In Thailand, if you do the crime, relax, you'll do no time.

Edited September 27, 2015 by tigermonkey

[simon43]

Nai Yang is my local beach.

The OP is absolute rubbish. If I go down to that beach, there are restaurants and shops, including newly-built restaurants and ugly concrete guesthouses built on the beach side of the road and jutting perhaps 50 metres onto the beach, stopping just before the high tide mark.

What has been cleared were a small area of businesses that existed before the tsunami and were rebuilt afterwards ==> Mr Kobi's bar, Lee Pizza etc. These were 'shacks', not the permanent, concrete structures that exist on the beach now.

More recently, some business on the other side of the beach road have been demolished.

I rarely go down to the beach, but took a visit a week or two ago to have relax on the beach and have a meal. With the lack of chairs and loungers, I sat for a minute or 2 on the ant-covered sand and then gave up.

As for eating a nice meal on the beach, that wasn't possible because the restaurants can no longer place their chairs/tables temporarily on the beach. I gave up and went home.

By all means, clear the beach. But apply the rule to clear ALL of Nai Yang Beach on the beach side of the road. And then allow us older folks to sit on a chair on the beach to relax, not fight with the sand flies.

[Jimi007]

Nowhere to enjoy an ice cold beer; Nowhere to take a dump (unless you're Chinese then the big blue stuff near the sand works); No place to shower; No place for lunch, No place to shelter as parasols/umbrellas are forbidden.. Nice. Goa seems to work okay with beach shacks as does Brazil and Bali etc.. most places actually except Australia - which I reckon is why they all come to Thailand!

Enforcement of the no beer is non existent, I agree about not having enough public facilities on the beaches. Plenty of restaurants close by virtually every beach, so not sure where you get the notion of no place for lunch. Bring your own parasol/umbrella, they are not forbidden, and every beach does have a section where you can rent umbrellas, so all in all, the only correct statement in your post is that some beaches don't have public facilities, while other beaches do, though not nearly enough.

I guess I'm lucky. I live close enough to the beaches I go to that I can go home if I need to use a toilet or a shower! I can take a beer or cocktail with me… I still don't care about tourists! Never have! Steelepulse, when Grumpyoldman get's back let's hook up for a drink and a meal!

[Guest]

In my opinion, winding back criminality, isn't exactly progressing. It's just returning the beaches to what they should have always been. In any case, what else has the Thai military done here?

When I hear the word "progress" I usually look to improvements in critical infastructure. Eg. electric, roads, education, medical, policing, telecommunications etc etc.

If we are talking about Phuket progressing in relation to the tourism industry, I can only see it struggling, not progressing.

NKM: For first, please quote only the relevant parts, you wish to comment. Don't copy the texts to be shown for all of us again.

For me your comments look like this.

I don't like this situation to block you as I think you are far smarted than just being a person who loves to complain. But after an time It's the smart thing to do.

In some cases I do view your messages anyway, like today.

I personally have very little respect for doomsday sayers. It's easy to make the horrifying predictions of the future. The folks who are only doing the doomsday stuff, are not really worth of listening.

We also have plenty of people who are trying to find the solutions. The folks who can see the future a bit brighter and something to look for. These are the folks we should listen to.

It's rather unfortunate that some of the gloom and doom ideologies has gained the 'intellectual' status due they have so many followers on Facebook or on other medias. However, It's just temporary.

I'm certain that you, NKM, with your experience, can produce a lot of solutions, how to make our island a bit better place to live.

Please start sharing these insights and I'll start listening what you say once again.