THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 thephuketnews thephuketnews1 thephuketnews.com Friday, March 29 – Thursday, April 4, 2019 Since 2011 / Volume IX / No. 13 20 Baht IT’S NOT A DROUGHT, BUT FREE RELIEF WATER DEPLOYED > PAGE 2 NEWS PAGE 3 Election result to stand after votes TAKE A SEAT counted by hand LIFE PAGE 11 Meet Gino, the Phuketian on MasterChef Tourists enjoy Patong Beach. Photo: The Phuket News / file PATONG BEACH SUNBED, UMBRELLA OPERATORS PUSH TO EXPAND THEIR CLAIMS TO THE SAND Tanyaluk Sakoot last Sunday (see page 3). be extended by 40 metres during the Mr Ampien said. [email protected] It also comes as sunbed operators busy tourist peak month of November Mayor Chalermluck confirmed at other beaches elsewhere along the through April. that she would raise the issue with the ess than 48 hours after the polls west coast have already extended well He also asked for a new sunbed Patong beach organising committee. SPORT PAGE 31 closed in the national election beyond the “10% zone” areas. and umbrella area to be set up along Lt Col Surasak attended the meet- Llast Sunday, Patong sunbed Ampien Tientin, Head of the the central section of the beach. ing as a representative of the provin- How will Brexit operators filed a formal request to Patong Sunbed Club, submitted the The reasons given for expanding cial beach management committee, extend their areas at Patong Beach, formal request at Patong Municipal- the operators’ areas was to better serve she added. including setting up an entirely new ity on Tuesday (Mar 26) along with tourists during the high season as “This will be taken under consid- hurt the English section of sun beds along one of the several other Patong sunbed operators. well as to help keep the areas clean. eration. We will inform you of any Premier League? busiest sections of Phuket’s most Present to receive the formal re- “Sunbed operators keep the areas updates later.” she said. popular stretches of sand. quest was Patong Mayor Chalermluck where they operate clean of any litter In order to legally approve any The call to expand their areas on Kebsup and Lt Col Surasak Peung- which helps to keep the whole beach such expansion, the Patong “beach the sand has already been taken up yeam, of the Royal Thai Army’s 25th clean, and expanding the sunbed management committee” must first by Sutha Pratheep Na Thalang, the Military Circle, which are based in areas also increases the security and seek approval from the provincial candidate for the pro-military Palang Phuket, and other military personnel. safety of tourists, as the operators beach management committee, which Pracharath Party who won the vote for Mr Ampien asked for existing keep an eye on tourists and their was set up in the wake of the Army- Phuket Constituency 1 in the election areas for sunbeds and umbrellas to valuables while they are swimming,” led crackdown to clear all vendors... CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 @thephuketnews 2 PHUKET NEWS THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 [email protected] Police to use LINE to target tourist bike News riders > p4 Free emergency water deployed Relief water provided by local officials as residents’ homes run dry The Phuket News liver the water. We are looking water, or if you have special office on Kra Rd; 2) DDPM [email protected] into having more trucks at our requirements, please call us office near the corner of Soi disposal to use,” he said. on 076-342600,” she added. Pha-niang and Yaowarat Rd; esidents across Phuket People outside Rassada 3) Phuket City Water Plant at without mains water suffering the same dry fate can PHUKET TOWN Suan Luang Park. Rsupply due to reduced contact their local municipality Phuket Town Mayor Somjai “If people are in urgent pressure can now call local au- for assistance, Mr Graisorn Suwansupana on Monday need of water, please call the thorities to have free emergency explained. warned of water sources serv- (Department of Disaster Pre- water delivered to their homes. He also urged people to ing Phuket Town running dry vention and Mitigation) DDPM “The PWA will deliver free conserve water use as much and announced emergency hotline 199 or Phuket City emergency water to people as possible. drought preparations. Municipality on 076-211111 or in Rassada, which is on high “Normally, one person A fire truck delivers “If the rains do not come the Phuket City Municipality land, where the mains water uses about 200 litres of water free emergency water soon, we will not have enough hotline 1132 for help,” Mayor pressure is not enough to en- a day. Please reduce this to 150 in Patong. Photo: water left in the reservoirs. Somjai said. sure running water supply,” litres a day by closing taps at Patong Municipality Therefore we must begin efforts confirmed Phuket Waterworks any time that running water to prevent a drought crisis,” she STILL NOT A DROUGHT Authority (PWA) Chief Graison is not being used. Chalermluck Kebsup confirmed Phisitgoranee Rd and Nanai stressed, calling for people to Meanwhile, Phuket Gover- Mahamad. “Also, please don’t wash on Monday (Mar 25). Rd from 10am until 6pm on save as much water as possible. nor Phakaphong Tavipatana “We are supplying the wa- your cars as often. This can “We have been facing a Mondays, Wednesdays and At the current rates of on Monday urged relevant ter from the main Bang Wad save a lot of water,” he said. lack of water for days as it Fridays. consumption, one reservoir agencies to find raw water reservoir only for now. Please is a drought. Some people “Please have your water on Damrong Rd will last just reserves to supplement public call 076-319173. Water will be PATONG are getting only low-pressure containers ready and bring 36 days, and another at Suan water supply and to conduct delivered between 8:30am and Patong Municipality this week water supply, and some places them to the side of the road to Luang (King’s Park) will last public-awareness campaigns 4:30pm only,” he added. started rolling out free emer- have no water from the PWA make it easier for us,” Mayor 54 days, Mayor Somjai said. for conserving water use in “The PWA has only three gency water to residents, but at all,” she said. Chalermluck said. Three water relief distribu- order to reduce the volume of trucks – each can contain 6,000 businesses have to source their The free water trucks will “If you miss the water tion points have been set up water residents are using “in litres – that we can use to de- own water, Patong Mayor drive along Phrabaramee Rd, truck and desperately need in Phuket Town: 1) DDPM case of a drought”. Shades of beaches past revisted Continued from page 1 ...from all Phuket beaches in 2014 amid an “anti-mafia” purge. In the wake of the Army-led beach vendor crackdown, the Phuket provincial government in 2015 with full authority of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) man- dated that beach vendors as a whole were prohibited from occupying more than 10% of sand area of any beach in Phuket. Phuket is the only province to enact such a law restricting commercial practices actu- ally on the beaches. Mayor Chalermluck tours Patong Beach In 2016, Phuket Governor at the time, after sunbeds were allowed to return by in Chockchai Dejamornthan, vowed to clear all 2017. Photo: The Phuket News / file vendors from Phuket beaches as he pointed out that no government office in the country Mayor Chalermluck’s appeal. had any authority to allow any commercial In February 2017, the sun loungers were operations on any beaches in Thailand, never allowed back onto Patong Beach – but only mind creating a law to specifically allow them after Maj Gen Pornsak Poonsawat, Deputy to operate on 10% of the sand area. Commander of Royal Thai Army Region 4, “Also, it appears that we still have issues the military unit responsible for all of Southern with the umbrella and beach chair mafias. Thailand, gave his direct consent without any There will be no more mafias. It is my duty to provincial officials present. work out who will manage Phuket’s beaches, “In Patong, There are five 10% zones, but I can assure you it will not be mafias with 180 umbrellas and 360 beach chairs in and they will be run in accordance with the each zone,” Mayor Chalermluck explained law,” he said. at the time. Yet the beach operators remained, and “Beach chair rental prices are limited Governor Chockchai was soon posted out to not more than B200 per chair,” she said. of Phuket. “This is in line with the original policy Patong Mayor Chalermluck herself pe- set out in 2014 allowing beach chairs in the titioned for sunbed operators to be allowed 10% zones only, which are flexible and better back on Patong Beach in January 2017 after for elderly tourists,” she said. entrepreneurial operators started sculpting The encroachment by operators on Patong ‘sand loungers’ for tourists to enjoy, for a price. Beach has continued to grow this year. Only That was after the Navy had ordered sand last month jet-ski operators were allowed to loungers removed. start parking their jet-skis and trailers on Within days, the Royal Thai Navy sunk certain sections on Patong Beach. thephuketnews THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 PHUKET NEWS 3 Democrats fall to military Election results to stand, vote count tally confirmed manually Tanyaluk Sakoot (92.62%), 4,883 spoiled ballots “Some PEC staffers were new [email protected] (4.5%) and 3,124 ballots submitted to the app and inaccurately entered blank (2.88%).