The owners of bars and restaurants along Sihanoukville’s popular Ochheuteal Beach said Tuesday that a recent ban on placing tables and chairs in the sand in front of their establishments was hurting their businesses, and that they would protest against it.
Sihanoukville governor Chin Sarin said Tuesday that with the high tourist season upon them, owners of businesses along the beach had been instructed to remove hundreds of tables and chairs from the sand so that visitors could relax there without being charged for the privilege.
“We are no longer allowing shop owners to put their chairs and benches on the beach because they are making a profit from visitors…who want to sit there,” he said, adding that the ban would also serve to reduce the amount of loose trash in the area.
The eating and drinking establishments along the beach are popular among backpackers and locals alike, and their seating areas, which stretch halfway from the boardwalk to the water, attracted swarms of people seeking cheap food, beer and sunset vistas.
Chorn Ty, the owner of the Chaimoy Ochheuteal Beach restaurant, said he had complied with the new rule—and effectively slashed his business by more than half.
“I can fit about 40 customers inside the restaurant, but I had places for 60 more customers on the beach, so all those customers now have nowhere to sit,” Mr. Ty said, adding that he had also been ordered to remove a 2-by-14-meter awning that shelters part of the indoor seating area.
“If they take away my roof, customers won’t have any shelter from the sun and they won’t be able to stay inside…when it rains,” he said.
Sen Muslie, owner of Muslie’s Bar, said he and other beachfront proprietors were due to meet with Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Chhit Sokhon today. If the new ban was not rolled back, he said, they would protest in Phnom Penh.
“[I]f we don’t find a solution, we will go talk to Prime Minister Hun Sen and see what he has to say.”
(Additional reporting by Simon Henderson)
