- Governor Norraphat Plodthong called for the after-dark ban at an emergency meeting held yesterday (June 15) at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket headquarters (DDPM-Phuket).
The meeting was called after two people drowned and many tourists were rescued after entering dangerous surf at Phuket beaches this week.

“Tourists ignoring our warnings is the main issue – especially Russian and Chinese tourists,” explained Watcharin Patomwatthanapong, Acting Chief of Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO), which oversees the government project to have lifeguards at Phuket beaches.

“And they like to go to the beach at night and get drunk,” he added.

To this, Gov Norraphat noted that in order to protect all tourists, “I think officials should set up a special regulation to ban tourists from the beach after 6:30pm.”

Gov Norraphat also called for Phuket lifeguards to extend their patrol hours to 7:30pm each night to ensure no people enter the water after dark.

“This would only be to check the surf and ask people to leave the beach,” he said. “After that, extra force from local municipalities, police and volunteers will inspect beaches to ensure the ban is enforced.”