Demolition starts at Phuket’s Freedom Beach as foreign entry fee considered
Thai visitors are to enter free when the beach reopens, while any charge for foreign tourists would follow legal rates, the environment minister said.
Forestry authorities started clearing structures from national forest reserve land at Freedom Beach in Phuket on November 8. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin said access would be free for Thai visitors after reopening, but foreign tourists could face an entry charge.
About 200 personnel used excavators to begin removing more than 20 structures in Karon subdistrict. The operation also involved dismantling a staircase with 70 to 80 steps and creating a new route to the beach.
Suchart said any foreign visitor fee would comply with legally prescribed criteria and rates. Revenue would support maintenance, toilets, safety and conservation. He did not specify an amount or implementation date, or say whether foreign residents would have to pay.
The minister said investigators found that land claim document Sor Kor 1 No.419 concerned another plot but had been used to claim beach land and secure title deeds. He said officers from three departments would remain at the beach to prevent renewed occupation.
Suchart led the clearance on Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s instructions, alongside Phuket Governor Chotnarin Kerdsom. He also asked the governor to coordinate assistance for people who had lost money buying land there.
Freedom Beach has remained closed since August following the drowning of a German tourist during the monsoon. Suchart set a goal of returning it to public use as a New Year gift, but no reopening date was announced.
