The group, led by Ms Namrin Butta, presented a letter of complaint to Kathu District Chief Sayan Chanachaiwong which also demanded government agencies check the land tittle deed No.6868 (Chanote) which they say is for public land but owned by a company.
Mr Namrin said, “Vendors and tourists must pay B100 to access Leam Singh Beach as the owners of the land which has access to the beach have placed barriers blocking the entrance before, but now a government agency has blocked the entrance with a barrier.
“This has never been done before,” she said.
Mr Sayan replied, “Relevant government agencies are currently in the process of checking the land tiles for the land adjoining Laem Singh Beach.
“We cannot do anything until this process is complete,” he said.
“The Phuket Highways Department has now built barriers to close access to the land because relevant government agencies have already found that the company which holds the land titles have never asked for permission to connect public land to the land for which the land tile is held,” he added.
Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co Ltd (BBTV), the company that broadcasts Thai TV Channel 7, privatised access to Laem Singh Beach and started charging B100 per person to cross beachfront land that the company claims to own.
Access across the land is open from 7am to 7pm, effective July 1, the company announced with a large sign posted at the site. (See story here.)