Optimism rules Phuket beach after clear out, cleanup

PHUKET: Kamala was added to the list of Phuket beaches cleaned up and cleared of all illegal establishments today as local officials and residents disposed of the last pieces of rubbish left behind by businesses.

“All beach vendors removed their buildings last week. Today, we went to clean the area because the shop owners left a lot of garbage behind,” said Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut.

Governor Maitri led a team comprised of Kamala Police officers, Kathu District officers, staffers from private companies, students and Army soldiers to pick up the trash.

The next step in re-organizing Kamala Beach is to invite all banished, but legal shop owners to register with the Kamala Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) for a spot in the new beach vendor zone.

“The shop owners will have to register under a specific business category, such as massage, restaurant, beach chair or beverage,” said Gov Maitri.

“The operating times for each business will be set according to what category it falls under. However, all of the shops must be mobile so that they can be moved if necessary.”

The Kamala beach clearing project made page 1 of the Phuket Gazette on June 7 when Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada announced that all illegal shops would be torn down and the beach re-zoned (story here).

Kamala Police Superintendent ML Pattanachak Jakkapan today expressed his approval of a clean Kamala Beach and his high hopes for the future.

“After the beach had been cleared out last week, I noticed that a lot of Thai and foreign families came to picnic on the sand. This is great, now families have more things to do together,” ML Pattanachak said.

“The number of people visiting Kamala Beach will increase in the future because the beach is now back to its natural beauty.”

ML Pattanachak explained that he is recruiting volunteers to look after the rising number of beachgoers.

“My goal is to increase safety for visitors. We are now searching for volunteers to look after the beach. So far, all of the lifeguards have stepped up,” he said.

“We will set up training courses so our volunteers can learn how to handle different situations. We will also give them walky-talkies so that they can communicate directly with the police.

“Moreover, I plan to assign more police patrols so that safety on Kamala Beach is not an issue.”

— Saran Mitrarat