Management Strategies for the Public Beaches in the Andaman Cluster Provinces

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the current situation of public beaches management in the province of the Andaman zone. 2) to study the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of public beaches management in the province of the Andaman zone and 3) to propose an appropriate strategy to management the public beaches in the province of the Andaman zone more effectively. For the qualitative method, the researcher employed a documentary survey and an in-depth interview with 17 key informants in Krabi, Phang-Nga and Phuket provinces. The data obtained was then analyzed to be the management strategies for the public beaches in the province of the Andaman zone and then analyzed the strategies by focus group discussion in order to test the reliability and compare the opinion to strategies by qualitative method. The results of the study revealed:

1. Currently, the beaches in Krabi are still natural, clean and tidy; there were not many invasions on the beach fronts by businesses. However, the public beaches in Phuket and Phang-Nga were invaded by commercial sun beds and umbrellas. It was found that all the public beaches of the three provinces were full of waste, wastewater and inadequate facilities for visitors during the high season. Another serious problem was the coastal erosion which destroyed the beaches.

2. For the management of public beaches in Andaman zone found that the level of management of the public beaches in Krabi was high. The province has well-planned policies and sufficient budgeting. However, the level of beach management in Phang-Nga and Phuket was found to be moderate and low due to lack of good policies and clear defined plans. There was an overlapping in responsibilities of various organizations in these provinces which caused the public beaches invasion. Influential groups were believed to control the area. In terms of the tourists’ safety, there were inefficient measures to preserve their lives and property. The National Council for Peace and Order had seized the power and urgently tried to solve the problems on public beaches in the Andaman cluster. It is hoped that the conditions of the public beaches in Phang-Nga and Phuket will be recovered.

3. The researcher proposed 7 strategies to manage the beaches in Andaman group province. The strategies consisted of 1) Enforcement on reformation, law and rules; 2) Policy and Planning; 3) Unification in management of public beaches in each local; 4) Budget; 5) Leadership setting by the government in organizing the network cooperation system; 6) Information by providing know ledges to people and 7) Coordinating within department.