PATTAYA: Stall holders renting out the new beach chairs have been told remove the sun shades sponsored by Thai Beverage Plc because they could be violating the alcohol control laws.
The instruction was announced by Maj Gen Yutthachai Thienthong, chief of the 14th Military Circle, who chairs a committee on keeping order along Pattaya beach.
He said the umbrellas carry logos that could be in breach of the law, so operators were told to fold them up, put them out of sight, and use their old ones until the legal aspects were clarified.
The law prohibits the display of the name or logo of an alcoholic beverage in a way that might encourage people to drink it.
Maj Gen Yutthachai said stall operators could continue to use the new plastic beach chairs and mats.
Thai Beverage donated the new beach chairs, mats and umbrellas to the Pattaya City administration early last month in response to the National Council for Peace and Order's instruction to improve the appearance of the resort city's frequently rubbish littered beaches.
The policy included a reduction in the area where the chairs can be rented, to increase the public area along the beaches. The chairs were distributed to about 150 operators on Pattaya and Wong Amat beaches.
Earlier Maj Gen Pop-anant Luangpanuwat, vice chairman of the Pattaya Council and peace-keeping director of Chon Buri province, said the logo should not pose any problem, because it represented a brand of bottled drinking water.