Photos of the fence started gaining traction on Thai social media, along with claims that the fence was encroaching on state land, leading reporters to investigate.
Workers at the scene declined to reveal who they were working for, but today began pulling down the fence, which stood only 15-20 metres from the high-tide mark.
A source at the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor), the local authority responsible for the area, said that a preliminary investigation had found that the owner had claimed that the area being marked off by the fence was private land
Coastal erosion was blamed for the beach inching up year after year onto the private land, it was claimed.
The source explained that a meeting will be held at the Cherng Talay OrBorTor office tomorrow (July 31) to clarity the situation and to solve the issue.
Officials from the Phuket Marine Office and the Treasury Department will attend the said meeting as well.