Karon voted 18th best beach in Asia, despite wastewater problems

PHUKET: Despite all the recent reports of waste water, including human waste, flowing across it, Karon Beach was recently named as one of the 25 best beaches in Asia by TripAdvisor.

Three other Phuket beaches were among the top 25 in the 2014 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards: Nai Harn, Kata Noi and Freedom.

Nai Harn was in fifth place, Kata Noi in 14th, Freedom Beach in 16th and Karon in 18th.

With an additional four beaches in the south of Thailand also voted onto the awards list, the Land of Smiles’ beaches account for nearly a third of peoples’ choice votes for the best in Asia.

In their second year, the awards are “determined based on the quality and quantity of traveller reviews and ratings for beaches on TripAdvisor gathered over a 12-month period,” the website states.

Black water flowed across Karon Beach on February 24 (story here), and though Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut declared the water clean on a visit the next day (story here), Karon Village Chief (Kamnan) Winai Chidchiew revealed a month later that the water was run-off from a faulty wastewater treatment system (story here).

Notwithstanding the black water scare, the new director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Anoma Wongyai said, “It’s easy to promote Phuket’s beaches because of their natural beauty.”

“Beacuse we have many beautiful beaches here, including those on nearby islands, tourists enjoy coming for their longer holidays,” Ms Anoma explained.

Phuket has long been recognized as one of the world’s top beach holiday destinations and continues to grow in popularity.

“Phuket saw an increase in the number of tourists in 2013 over previous years, with more than 11 million people visiting the island. Chinese, Australians, Russians, Malaysians and Germans are now the top five represented guests on the island,” she added.

“TAT Phuket is ready to promote and develop tourist attractions in Phuket in order to ensure more returning guests,” said Ms Anoma.

Railay, Phra Nang, Koh Lanta and Koh Phangan are other Thailand beach destinations that have been voted among the best in Asia.

— Jeremie Schatz