Patong Beach sun lounge rule ‘is being enforced’
Are sun lounges and umbrellas – supposedly restricted to 10 per cent of the waterfront area – taking over at Patong Beach?
Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup has assured the Phuket Gazette that the 10-per-cent rule remains and operators are following the rules for the placement of lounges and umbrellas.
“The zoning remains the same and there are signs that clearly specify the area of 10 per cent,” Chalermluck said. “There are also officers from the Patong Municipality, police officers and some military officers conducting random surveys at the beach.
“However, it is tourism high season now and the operators might have increased the number of their rented umbrellas, making it appear more packed on the beach, but they are remaining in the zoned area,” she noted.
Chalermluck explained that the renters on the beach are the 59 people who were in the business before 2014 when the government created its beach-management plan.
Asked about the new cigarette ban, she said: “The tourists actually like and respect the policy and we can see people smoking in the designated smoking areas arranged by the municipality.
However, there are some people that break the rule by dumping trash at the smoking zone.”
Source: https://www.phuketgazette.net/news/10-beach-zones-becoming-20-zones