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BANGKOK POST 20/01/05

Stalls won't be allowed back on sand

Upset vendors say life's getting harder

ACHADTAYA CHUENNIRAN

Many vendors were operating businesses illegally on beaches before they were wiped out by the tsunamis, and it was essential that order be re-established now the opportunity had arisen, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.

People at some beaches have become upset when banned from returning to their previous sites.

Mr Thaksin said the reorganisation would ensure everyone had a piece of land so they could support themselves.



About 1,000 vendors on Tuesday protested against the ban on returning to Kamala and Patong beaches.Officials said the beaches needed to be kept clean and orderly.

Disgruntled vendors met heavily-escorted Phuket governor Udomsak Asavarangkul and demanded he reconsider. However, the governor insisted that vending stalls must be cleared away to ensure orderliness and tourists' safety.

Phuket city issued an ordnance to keep the vendors out after the tsunamis demolished unlicensed beachfront stalls. The city said that in future no vendors' stalls would be allowed to encroach on the beaches.

The governor said the number of tourists to Phuket had dropped by more than 80% since the disaster. Tourism would not recover unless the beach environment was revamped. Beachside roads would be widened and vendors would have to rent space in new designated areas at least 10 metres from the beach.

The city would turn ``encroachers'' into ``tenants'', Mr Udomsak said.

``If you wish to stay on in the area, you must conform to the new regulations and standards,'' he told the vendors. He did not say what he would do if they remained defiant.

He promised the rent and the process to select lessees would be fair, but warned vendors not to haggle with tourists.

A special panel would look into smaller details such as what materials were safe, comfortable and durable for beach deck chairs.

Anant Dechkaew, 36, said his beer bar on Kamala Beach was razed by the waves. He was upset the authorities had never bothered to clarify space management rules until the tsunamis had wiped the slate clean.

The city was making life harder than ever in the wake of the disaster, he said. His worries had multiplied. First he had trouble trying to rebuild his house and now the authorities had banned his stall.

He accused the governor of being dictatorial and vowed to fight on.