Pol Maj Gen Norasak Hamenithi, Commander of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NREC) in Bangkok, explained, “According to the Forest Act, no permanent structure may be built on forest land without permission.
“We have a list of the owners of the bars and restaurants here [on Koh Kai Nok]. They have built structures not only without permits but even without land ownership or occupation documents, so we will summon them to Koh Yao Police Station to answer charges of encroachment.
“This [encroachment] creates problems such as garbage and damage to the surrounding reefs when tour boats arrive and drop anchor on the coral. In addition, when tourists go snorkelling, they step all over the coral,” Gen Norasak said.
An NREC officer noted that buildings have proliferated on the island over the past 10 years. A decade ago there was only one small building, more like a shed, he said. But in the past two years the beach area had been filled with restaurants, bars and beach chairs.
Someone has built a scruffy toilet which has already broken down and stinks.
Behind the toilets, a makeshift incinerator has been created, with garbage and ash flowing into the sea. With all the garbage lying around on the sand, the supposedly illegal restaurants are infested with flies.
“Koh Yao Municipality should be looking after this island,” another NREC officer said. “I don’t know what are they doing allowing Koh Khai to get into this state.”
Because of the bad weather, however, the raiding party’s plans to check the land fully had to be curtailed.
Koh Kai Nok was the venue for a coral rescue project recently after it was discovered that a sea-walking company had ripped out coral to make a sandy path underwater for its customers, even thoughtfully providing them with an illegal handrail.
Gen Norasak was last in Phuket on official duty when he raided Koh Rang Noi at the end of July last year, after allegations that an illegal casino was being built on the island. Nothing has been heard since about progress on that case.