Phuket beaches now return to natural beauty for relaxation and visits

[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.

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!

Yup, you are indeed fortunate - I live about 5 km away from Layan (sorry - lived!) and drive through Laguna to get there. I did frequent the Reggae bar but it got to be too many Russians in there so I moved a couple of hundred meters up the way to the Gaia Bar which is was awesome. Too bad because the area was never swamped, it was bliss, cold cold tiger beer at 40 baht and great food!

[FangFerang]

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

Yes, please arrest more journalists and force them to resign so i can have a holiday!

[Valentine]

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.

New structures were quickly built on the beach side soon after "the crackdown".

[Deli]

No deck chairs, no food allowed, no drinks allowed, no own beach equipment allowed...

<deleted> is this for a ' Happy Beach Feeling ' ?? Beach lovers better go elsewhere

[NamKangMan]

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.

Screenshot 2015-09-27 19.36.09.png

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.

It is your choice to block my posts, or to read them. That said, this is a forum open to the world, and as such, you will see opinions from many different people.

If you are not open to the thoughts of others, why do you bother reading this forum at all?

Five years ago, if you were to say the western tourist market will dry up on Phuket, and be replaced by package holiday Chinese tourists, you would have been ridiculed and branded a "doomsdayer."

Now, in 2015, look what has become of tourism on Phuket.

I'll remind you that I am single, and do not have property, or business interests, on Phuket. You call me a "doomsdayer" but do not address the issues, and questions, raised in my post.

With no romantic or financial interests on Phuket, I have zero to worry about in relation to Phuket's future. I can sell my motorbike, give away some household appliances, and move to another area in the Thailand, or the region, anytime I desire. I am just calling it as I see it.

Why are doomsdayers not worth listening to? If an economist predicted the 2008 GFC, is he a doomsdayer, or is he interpreting data?

Perhaps you can explain why there are so many businesses and property on Phuket for sale at the moment, with no buyers. Or, do you deny this?

I actually thought the Thai military may have made Phuket's future a little "brighter." 18 months later, all there is to show on Phuket from military intervention is some beach encroachment clean up. Is this a complaint, or a fact?

Most on TV know how vocal I am on the transport situation on Phuket. A hop-on / hop-off, flat fare, 24/7, Pattaya style baht bus system along the coast road, between the beaches, would go a long way to luring back the western market, reducing traffic and noise / air pollution, and also cut the terrible road death statisics here. There's a solution. It's not an expensive mono-rail, or some other flying pig solution. This transportation exists in other parts of Thailand. The roads are there, and there are tuk-tuks sitting around doing nothing. Get them circulating routes, like baht buses.

That was a suggested solution, now I will give you the reality.

If the Thai military couldn't introduce proper public transport on Phuket, is it a doomsday prediction to suggest Phuket never will have proper public transport? Who will ever have more power, monarchy aside, than an Army General / PM installed through a military coup? Not even the Thai military will dismantle the transport mafia on Phuket, so where do you see a bright future for transport on Phuket?

Complaining changes nothing here. As foreigners, we have no rights. We can't vote at election time, so, we have no say at all.

Our various Embassy officials have meetings with those in charge here, and raise issues - nothing changes.

How do you maintain Phuket has a bright future with rising vacancy rates, fewer customers through the door, and falling profits? Once again, is this a doomsdayer comment, or a fact?

I wouldn't say the internet is "just temporary," Google will be around long after we are both dead. Google "jet skis Phuket" and see the many websites outlining the scam and extortion. I'm sure such information has stopped potential customers from hiring. In relation to Facebook, well, just look at The Arab Spring.

The first step to solving a problem is recognising there is one. Do you not see Phuket's problems?

Edited September 28, 2015 by NamKangMan

[Jimi007]

No deck chairs, no food allowed, no drinks allowed, no own beach equipment allowed...

<deleted> is this for a ' Happy Beach Feeling ' ?? Beach lovers better go elsewhere

Odd. I've lived at the beach all my life. All I need is a towel, swim fins and some water.

[oldsailor35]

So when are they coming to Samui

A certain resort at Maenam have nailed signs to the coconut trees along the beach saying Private property. It is a bloody eyesore, more " invisible" Thai junk and rubbish

Edited September 28, 2015 by oldsailor35

[oldsailor35]

One Chinese shop owner in Walking Street Maenam KS will not allow anybody to park in front of his shop. He was yelling at me "Go away, You have no right to park there" And that is a public road !

[oldsailor35]

The military really have very little to do. So the PM should designate senior officers to have office in all areas such as Phuket, Koh Samui and other resort areas. These officers will have a team and an approachable office and it shall be their responsibility to sort out the problems which have grown over the 'free for all' years. These officers will be held responsible for what they do and therefore will be untouchable regarding corruption, answerable directly to the PM.

[jamiesilver]

amazing news hurray for the junta - they gave us back a beach but now want to take away our internet and control our vote.