Evidently the Nathon Tessaban came to the site on Friday 2nd November 2007 at 1pm and took pictures and told the squatters that they must move back from our boundary by 50cm.

We were not there at the time so did not get a chance to talk with them about the total problem and ask them what they were going to do about it. Suthep said that was probably a good thing as I tend to get a bit heated if things are not moving fast enough ... Suthep said I should just wait and let the system work its course (yes but I've waited over 6 years already!!!). I have faith for now...

As a result, they started to take some of the roof away on 3 November 2007.

When we asked the builders / demolishers if they were going to take the wall away, they said no as the owner had not told them to do so. We reminded them that the roof and the wall all had to be back 50 cm from our boundary line and they went and talked with the owner and 30 minutes later they came back with the sledge hammers. (Still not being soft handed and causing more cracks in Anna's room).

Another wall inside the house is about a metre away, but it has a door and window in it so we reminded them that the law states 2 metres for walls with window or door and 50cm for walls without windows and doors.

So they said that they would close up the window and door rather than take down the internal wall.

It seems really weird arguing the particular law over 50 cm versus 2 metres when they are still breaking the law by stealing the beach and building without a building permit, putting sewerage directly into the beach etc..

Pity they have to break up all of the nice work in side ... such a waste of money (that they say they do not have)

At least they seem to have got the message about not walking on our roof.

They were happy to build at night but don't seem that interested in demolishing at night.

Jacob is starting to get his view back again (but they insist they are going to build again - just further away).

And here it is on Sunday the 4th November 2007.

And here it is on Sunday the 4th November 2007.

And here it is on Sunday the 4th November 2007.

The view from our front door

We have a yacht charter business and I have had to deal with the speed boat families - we have clear boundaries and one of them is that I do not do anything in relation to the full moon party. This has worked fine and we have never had problems and in fact we help each other out some times.

We have a minibus company and we have had to deal with the taxi people. Again, boundaries are clear and we do not do ad hoc roadside pickups, we only do booking pickups.

When dealing with both of these parties, I have never felt so threatened as I have felt with the squatter neighbours.

It seems like they are blaming us for encroaching on their space and threatening their home. They easily forget that we have been quiet for six years while they have been saving to put their kids through school and while they have been building their nice house in Plai Leam.

We only went to the authorities when they encroached onto our land and then actually connected to our house. We did ask them to stop but they said they were not afraid of a farang and they finally admitted their true sentiments "we are not going".

My wife was in a bit of a state after this and was reminding me not to go and take photos and not to go near them. She keeps reminding me that I have 3 kids to look after and that even if they don't kill me, they might maim me and cause more stress on the family. It makes me mad to think that we have to live in fear of reprisal like that, when all we are trying to do is live on the land we legally bought and use a nice beach belonging to all people in Thailand... but I have stopped taking photos for now.

12 November 2007

There was not any sewerage dumping today that we noticed. I took the kids to school and then went to Nathon to pay some bills etc - anything to keep away from taking photos.

About 12 noon, I got back and Mr Poo Yai Wit and a gentleman from the Nathon Tessaban were in the restaurant wanting to talk with my wife and I.

It was a very good meeting with the usual sort of negotiating going on, Mr Wit originally stated that if Dim had to demolish her place then we need to cut a metre off our wooden decking that is built out on the rocks. Our counter to that was that the decking is totally wood and not illegal but if Dim signed an agreement to move then we would gladly sign an agreement to cut the deck back.

This surprised him a bit I think because he then stated that it was not necessary for us to cut the deck, but perhaps we can come to some form of compromise.

My wife Por did a wonderful job of explaining to Poo Yai Wit and the Tessaban that we do not like to see the neighbours putting the raw sewerage onto the beach where our kids should be able to play, that we do not like them just throwing all of their debris onto the beach, that we do not believe it is proper to block public access to the Crown beach, that we feel it is a bit dangerous to be building around power poles etc.

Both parties agreed that it was not appropriate, so the following compromise was reached (please bear with me as it is only what we think was agreed and we will never know until it is actually carried out):

To me this is a very good compromise because I honestly feel that if it is done well, then a Thai style sala drink and ice cream bar right beside the gates to Big Buddha will be a good little money earner. If it is clean and inviting then there will be many people wanting to stop for a drink and look at the view. My estimates are that it could earn as much as THB10,000 a day if done properly - not a bad living for the family.

Once the negotiations were finished there appeared to be genuine good feeling that a compromise could be reached (but remember that the squatters were not at this meeting). Then we went for a tour of the building site...

If any of you watch football with Thai commentary then you will know the expression "oohoo" that they use when there is a goal or good play etc. Well Mr Poo Yai Wit was saying the same thing when he got to our house and saw the extent of the work. He said to my wife that he never realised there was so much built in the back as he had only been to the front. He also said "why was she so silly to do that".

So our general feeling is that the message finally got through to the administration of why it was such a big problem for us.

Mr Poo Yai Wit and the Tessaban man (he didn't give me his card so not sure of his name) then went over to the squatters place to tell them of the brokered deal. We tried not to look but we did see Papa gesticulating a bit on the side of the road, so believe he was not too happy about it.

By this time it was time to pick up the kids from school so we left Aree at home to watch over the neighbours and went away for an hour. Aree said that they did all come and stand on their "balcony" looking over at our place in a menacing manner at one stage, but nothing else happened.

So it might have been a positive day, but I will not hold my breath. They are still there at the moment and I am sure they are trying to find some way of staying. We also will not feel truly safe for some time, because I am sure they will hold a significant grudge against us.

To me, the best thing would be for them to hurry up and demolish it so we can create the inviting area prior to high season when they might be able to recoup some of their lost money ... but I am sure they will not be thinking that way.

I expect that they will want to come and talk with my wife tomorrow some time ...

13 November 2007

Nothing significant happened today. They did dump their waste onto the beach again this morning, but other than that, it has been quiet. No construction, no demolition no discussions ...nothing.

I believe they are probably trying to work out a way to stay on, but hopefully they will see that it is not appropriate and move to their other house in Plai Leam so we can clean up the beach ready for high season.

Anna's 6th birthday tomorrow so we will hopefully have a pleasant family day.

13 November 2007 ... continued

.... I was a bit early in my previous comments, we did have some activity later in the evening...

I got a couple of visitors in the restaurant. One I have known for about 5 years and has been a good friend of my sister who was looking after BBC in the early stages. He brought along a Thai person who I have known for about 2 years. This person is involved in lending money throughout Thailand and does so in Koh Samui. I know the person as a customer of the restaurant, I have not borrowed any money from them.

They work for some very rich and powerful people throughout the country and lend millions of baht out at reasonably high rates - usually around 5% a month. They always want strong security and generally need the borrower to hand over the land titles up front and if the repayments are not met they go and takeover the land / assets.

Because they are dealing with desperate people and because they have to act on their security in order to protect their investments, they are very high up the ladder in terms of who they know.

This person told me "do not worry... I have already made calls to Bangkok and Suratthani and will visit some friends in Koh Samui tomorrow. You just carry on with the legal side and let us take care of behind the scenes." They asked me if I want the squatters to leave Samui and I said that it was not a priority. All I want them to do is take away the mess in front of my house and to leave us alone in the future. Again ... they said "don't worry if the squatters had any bad intentions that their connections would know about it and would stop it from happening" ... don't worry, don't worry

Well, its a very interesting situation ... do I worry less or do I worry more?

It is good to know I have friends who are willing to help... But it is a bit scary to think that I actually need this type of help. We all hear bad stories of such activity but when it comes so close to home, it can make us a bit nervous.

It is good to know that if the squatters want to pay someone to cause problems with us it can be stopped... but what if they are just silly enough to do it on their own?

It is good to have someone come offer to help without being asked ... but what about the future? Obviously I could not say no, please don't help, but where does that put me in terms of "debt" repayment? I hope that just buying them some food and a few drinks will be enough.

I thought hard about whether I should put this information on the site because maybe it is something I should not talk about ... but then again, the whole idea of this website is to make a record of events so that if something does go wrong, perhaps the culprits can be caught and my family can be protected.

To me this is confirmation that I was right in thinking it could potentially go horribly wrong.

I am still not convinced that I need the info here though, but for the mean time I will leave it and keep thinking it through... and do I sleep better or not?

14 November 2007

Not much has happened over the last few days. We had a nice quiet birthday party on the 14th for Anna. It was just the staff and family and we made a point of having it on the deck at or house, trying to put on a brave face and not be intimidated by the neighbours.

Jacob and Anna are oblivious to it all, but the rest of us don't feel totally at home as they are just too close. Fortunately we have found somewhere to go and live and will move there as soon as some fittings are completed.

The statue in this photo was evidently placed on the land at the time the Big Buddha was built. The story is that the priest in charge of building Big Buddha lived on the land and sat under the large Tamarind tree when meeting with the locals.

This makes the land quite special and potentially why some Thais are upset that it is in the hands of "farang's". The truth of the matter is that it is owned by Thais - the 2 standing in the picture next to the statue Jacob Preecha and Anna Songsuda.

17 November 2007

Today we received a visit from a very senior police officer - Police Major Sayan. I must say, he was the most professional one I have dealt with. He had prearranged to meet me at the restaurant at 7pm and called at 6.55 to say he was on his way and would not be long ... duly arriving at 7.05. I cannot remember the last time I experience this sort of punctuality in Thailand.

He looked at the photos, looked at the documents and said he already was aware of the case, knew the officer dealing with it and knew the bar next door as there was a shooting there about 3 years ago. It was a drive by shooting of a Lamai businessman who just happened to be sitting there for a drink. While it was not related to the family or bar in any other manner, it just reminded us of the potential dangers of Koh Samui.

He asked me to tell him why I felt I was in danger and I only just started to say how they told us "if they have to leave the house built on the beach, then I will have to leave Samui" ... and he said OK and picked up his phone to call the local station. He then wrote down the number of that station, his 2 personal mobile numbers and gave them to me, saying if at any time I feel the need then call him. He said he also asked the police to drop in to check on us frequently.

It still surprises me how I needed to say so little and then he understood ... it must be because it is a real (or am I still kidding myself), I know that if I was back in New Zealand and went to the police with that sort of statement they would certainly not take it as seriously.

Anyway, he assured me that the squatter family was totally in the wrong, doing things illegally and that they will be evicted in due course. He stated that the official papers take a week or so to get done as it would require a court order which will be delivered to the squatters by the police.

They will then get a short period of time to comply or go to jail. Once they have gone and things are cleared up, I should then get the original charges of trespass dropped. He stated that the squatter family will be continually reminded that they should not hold any further grudges or attempt any retribution and that he and the rest of the force will keep an eye on them / us.

He also stated that he understood it was all Papa that was doing the talking. He had heard that Papa felt it was his right to stay there on the beach as he was an old man and was from Samui.

Once again he said don't worry and said someone from the force will go see them tomorrow and then he was off on his way.

So, another day another story. I hope it is not getting too high profile ... but then again it needs to keep up the momentum to ensure there is action and ensure there is no retribution.

18 November 2007

Two officers from the local Plai Leam police station came around today. They said that the boss had asked them to come and talk with us and also to keep an eye on us over the coming months.

Khun Sampan and Khun Somchai were very attentive, looked at the photos and documents etc listened to my wife (their English was not as good as their boss's, and my Thai is not as good as it should be).

They mentioned that Dim had previously come to ask them for permission to change her roof to the permanent material rather than the grass and semi permanent material it had been. They said that they said it was Ok for her to do so but admitted they did not really know anything about the situation. They did not know it was a 3 bedroom house on the beach, they did not know that it was connected to our house, that they were putting raw sewerage on the beach, blocking access etc.

After thinking about it, this is probably why Dim used to tell me she was not scared when I said I would go to the police. She probably thought that I would go to the local police and that they would ignore the silly farang ... but because I went to the Chaweng police and eventually to Suratthani, it is a different situation.

They did mention that there has been an increase in break-ins lately so we should certainly make sure our house is secure.

They then came and had a look for themselves and like everyone else before them, were totally surprised at the extent of the building - the size of it, the audacity to connect to us, the use of concrete poles into the beach etc.

They then gave us the number of the Plai Leam station (077 448 191) saying that we only need to call and they will be here in 3 minutes - or 5 minutes if there has been some rain causing flooding on the road.

We offered them coffees and drinks or food and they declined saying they were busy and had to go back to work.

So now we just wait to see when the paperwork comes through from the tessaban to evict the squatters. I was told to wait 2 weeks and the first week is now over ... anxiously waiting for the next week to pass.

21 November 2007

Nothing happening lately other than they are still there and I see they have added another window and extended a wall ... no plans for them to move on yet by the looks of things.

waiting patiently... (well if you can call it patient when it keeps our anxiety levels quite high causing stress on the whole family)

23 November 2007

We had an appointment with Khun Watcharapong at the Nathon Police station today so I sneaked out and took a few photos to show him what has happened - and what has not.

Here is the nicely rendered wall that was previously connected to the house

23 November 2007

This is the area they connected to our house - still haven't given us any cash to fix it. Quite a contrast to their nice wall.

The 4pm appointment with Khun Watcharapong was arranged yesterday so we picked up the kids after school at 3pm and rushed to Nathon to be there in plenty of time.

23 November 2007

The 50cm gap is still there...

When we got to Nathon, we were told that Khun Watcharapong would be delayed until 4.30pm so we went for a coffee and milkshake for the kids.

23 November 2007

The concrete posts into the sand are still there.

At 4.30 we went back to the police station and waited.

23 November 2007

The rubbish over the steps is still there.

At 5pm we managed to have a chance to "wai" Khun Watcharapong as he rushed out the door and handed him a nice little basket of some stuff with a black label etc.

I also gave him the photos and he tucked them under his arm and said he was sorry and would come and see us in the next few days.

23 November 2007

They still have the rubbish there which blocks the previous walkway down to the beach

23 November 2007

so I have put in a new one ... feel free to come down for a look (it is a public beach).

Since we did not achieve much in Nathon today we felt quite frustrated ... but that is the way it is here.

Luckily the kids were excited as I bought some new life jackets today and took them out on the canoe. Got to have some way to relieve the pressure.

23 November 2007 ... later in the evening

The pressure is getting to us...

My wife is from Sisaket and feels out of her depth here in Samui and this little incident with the police office made her feel as though he was purposely treating us in a low manner. I tried to explain that I believe it is just the way all officials work here in Samui and that it is not necessarily us getting singled out ... but she cracked...

She told me to leave the squatters alone, let them stay a few more years ... "they are doing no harm", "we can carry on our life with them still there" ... "if not maybe we should go somewhere else" ... My view is that I cannot stop or else they will be there forever when I walk out the front door, when I go onto the beach with the kids etc... we cannot stop now. And I do not see why we should have to go away like they want us to.

Anyway, I got hot under the collar and said that I would get rid of them even if I had to take a sledgehammer to it myself ... and her reply "good, you will enjoy the crowded jails, sleeping on the urine and bug infested floor, fighting for the measly meals they dish out... at least she can stay on the land and not have me pacing around looking at the squatters every 5 minutes".

Suffice to say, not much sleep in our household last night.

25 November 2007

Not much progress in the last couple of days.

We did have another example of the contempt that they hold toward us.

On Saturday the builder was busy inside doing some modifications but found time to come out. He stood right outside our house and started to urinate onto the rubbish from the demolished wall - right outside our living room window. My wife, the nanny, our 15 year old daughter, our 6 year old daughter and 4 year old son were all in the living room and could clearly see.

My wife gave him a good yelling at but no major rush to zip up his pants and go back to his work. I wasn't there but wish I had been with the camera ready ... Por wanted to throw some hot water over him but was too busy yelling 4 letter words etc.

25 November 2007

It was a very high tide today and a sunny day so I got the camera out and sat on the deck snapping away ... although the smell did get a bit bad at times (but sadly, we are getting used to it)

25 November 2007

The rubbish that they had stacked on the steps was being cleaned up by nature.

25 November 2007

It used to be on their roof, but I suppose thatch roof will not be too harmful to the environment.

25 November 2007

High tide enough to wash out the tanks etc...

25 November 2007

Maybe they were concerned that they might get washed away as Papa and middle son were out inspecting things regularly.

25 November 2007

The waves did get in and take away some of their spare wood, but obviously they did not want to go and save it while I was there with the camera.

25 November 2007

A friend came to watch it with me .. they did not seem too concerned about the smell.

25 November 2007

Nature did not take away the rubbish from the wall or the concrete poles in the sand though.

27 November 2007

Not much progress in the last couple of days. Just some more high tides washing away some of the debris and starting to get under the footings buried into the sand.

Khun Watcharapong did come and visit us today. I got a call around 5.30pm to say he was coming in 10 minutes with another police officer to take some update pictures and have a discussion.

3 people arrived at around 6.40pm. Khun Watcharapong, a policeman from Phuket and his wife. The policeman from Phuket was the equivalent level as Khun Watcharapong and was on Samui for a general inspection visit.

Khun Watcharapong did go and inspect the progress, took a couple of photos and then went back to the restaurant to have some wine and dinner with his guests.

10.30pm they left and assured me that there would be some more progress in a couple of days. It was not quite clear what that progress would be, but I am assuming it might be that the Tessaban will issue the paperwork for removal of the dwelling.

While it appears that not much has really happened in the last few days, on the positive side I did manage to do some community service by providing some food and drink for the diligent police in both Samui and Phuket and managed to cloth them by providing some BBC t-shirts.

We will just have to wait and see what happens in the next few days.

27 November 2007

Another day another high tide...

27 November 2007

Gradually taking away the sand from under the concrete posts...

27 November 2007

Another day and more parking on the road in spite of the fact it might be a hazard. Perhaps it is actually to try and block the view of their illegal development, or maybe it is getting ready for a fast exit...

27 November 2007

Here's a close up of the number plate. You never know, it might be required in the future.

5 December 2007

And here is the minibus that the youngest son drives for his job. This photo is taken at night as he is parked out on the unlit road with no lights. It looks like he has lights, but that is the reflection from my camera flash.

4 December 2007

Not much to report at the moment because basically nothing has happened that we are aware of. No more visits from Police or other officials and we cannot see any signs of the squatters moving away - in fact they are still making extensions / modifications over by the sala bar.

An article did come out in the Samui Express which has resulted in some good support from locals, but other than that, life goes on.

Later in the evening ...

Papa came over and talked with Aree our gardener in the evening.  He was asking why the farang had stopped talking at them and stopped taking pictures.  Papa said that they had no plans to move and that in fact they were going to open a restaurant on the site in the high season.  He told Aree that I should try to save money and turn off the spotlight on the beach at night (I have a light out the front of our house for security purposes.  This is not necessarily the squatters, just that there are a few people walking out on the beach at night as they go fishing in the shallow water).  He said I need to save money as I am not going to make much because I have too many staff and expenses.  He said his new restaurant is going to make lots of money because they will use family to staff it (and obviously they don't pay rent or anything for the land).

I am not looking forward to all of the extra waste from the restaurant going out onto the beach and will certainly start taking pictures again soon.

Since it is the Kings Birthday on the 5th we are going to do the usual thing and get the staff cleaning up the beach area and will even clean up some of their rubbish for them.  If we try to keep it clean, then maybe, just maybe, they might try to do so as well.

I am not sure whether to laugh at Papa's fighting and arrogant words or get angry.  At the moment we are focusing on our own thing and trying not to get more angry, so are just laughing it off (but there is always the thought in the back of our mind that we may be here in 5 years still trying to get them off the beach ... which leaves us with not so happy feelings and a bit of tension in the household).

Later in the evening...

Since Dim had refused to pay to fix Anna's room, we thought it appropriate to go and ask for her to contribute to the cleaning up of her mess, by paying for the truck at THB500 an hour. So Aree went over in the evening to ask her for THB1,500 - and she paid up. This is the first concession of any sort, that we have had in 6 years of discussion. I wanted to get the money and frame it, but Aree had already given it to the truck company.

And, also I found out about a couple of things that happened during the day.

Aree, told me that while we were piling the rubbish on their balcony the grandmother had come and told Aree to get out or she would call the police. He reminded her that this was the crown land and that we were just giving them back their own rubbish ... and that he was not scared - go and call the police. Well, this flustered her and she quickly exited to her house across the road. We never saw any police.

9 December 2007

I didn't get to see the Mayweather / Hatton fight but even though it was billed as the fight of the century, I was having my own little battle and Poo Yai Wit had called to say he would come and see us around 10.30 am ... eventually arriving about 10.50am.

It was a good meeting with lots of light discussion. I will try and put it in bullet points below:

It seems like it is moving in a positive direction but I will not hold my breath (other than when I am walking past the smelly septic tanks). Too many times I have seen positive steps get reversed or replaced with something more horrific. We will just have to wait and see.

14 December 2007

Nothing to report. No construction, no demolition, no sight of any officials... at least no construction of a restaurant that we can see.

We are just assuming it will take time for the officials to get through the paperwork and they will be busy with election stuff and other more important issues.

We feel confident that Poo Yai Wit will push it through. We feel he honestly felt that the squatters lied to him and showed disrespect etc. I am heeding his advice and keeping my mouth shut and trying not to go near them. We have cancelled the beach cleanup and septic tank demolition this Saturday on the basis we need to give the officials a chance. We realise it has taken a long time to get where it is, but truly feel that the officials have taken it on board, so we must let them do their job in their own way.

If nothing has happened after New Year, then we shall need to step in again. Another few weeks is not going to make much difference in the scheme of things.

We have made the decision that we are not going to build another house on the land. This decision is based on the fact it will be a better utilisation of the site to build a much better restaurant and secondly we are unsure if we can live here anymore anyway. So the idea is that we will get some plans done that have the restaurant going where the house is, using the beach and have a design that can be built whether the squatters are there or not.

Even though it seems to be moving positively, we are still not convinced it will actually be resolved quickly as we have seen with the fishing squatters on the other side that even though there were court orders for them to leave, they took more than 2 years to vacate ... and still have not all gone.

We are sick of being disappointed by the process, so are taking a conservative view to it all and hopefully that way we might get a positive surprise.

18 December 2007

19 December 2007