“There were five food shops being built on NorSorLor land on Laypang Beach, which is located in front of the Banyan Tree Hotel.
“Around a month ago I put an order on the front of each shop stating that they have to stop construction. However, today, almost 30 days since the date of the first order, the buildings are still here.
“We have already ordered the owners to remove or demolish the buildings from the area, and if they haven’t done so within 37 days we will return to do it ourselves,” Mr Ma Ann told the Phuket News.
He added that along with the five food shops there were also umbrellas and beach loungers in the area, which he removed immediately.
“They are not on the sandy area, but they are on public land. Even though it is NorSorLor land, if it is for public use we will have to remove the businesses that blocks the land.”
Meanwhile, he stated that he has added one more location for beach zoning in addition to Surin beach.
“For Laypang and Bangtao beaches, there are hotels on the beach front which provide beach loungers and umbrellas inside the hotels area already, so I do not provide special zones for these beaches.
“Initially, only Surin Beach was to be zoned as it is popular and there are no hotels on the beach front. However, I have also added a special zone for Layan beach as well.”
Phuket Vice Governor, Somkiet Sangkhaosuthirak told The Phuket News that the deadline for working on beach management will be around the 27 – 28 of this month, the final meeting will be set and regulations will be force by that time.
“The beach management project is more than 95 percent complete. I admit I was a little slow, and this was because we had to wait until every beach was ready.
“At the end of this month, regulations will be announced and enforced, while Beach Guard Officers, a new team specially created for this measure, will work to monitor and control the regulations,” said the Vice Governor.
“Every beach will be under the same rules and standards. There will be no chairs allowed, only mats and umbrellas that are brought for personal use. Masseurs can wait on the beach or anywhere for their customers but cannot block a space for their business.
“Umbrella operators will stay in the tourism centers that we have already specified for each beach. The umbrella rental fee will be B200 for every area,” he said.