Penang's Beaches

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The English/US translation would be......chickenoops.
Ergo, chickenoops manner.

Cheers & Beers,
JAYDEE

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When we were having our business premises registered with the Penang local Council an inspector turned up as part of the process and said that we need to do this, this, and this etc. I pointed down the laneway and said that not one of those businesses have complied with any of those requirements you have just mentioned. He looked at me with that look.... don't you foreigners know anything..... and said "yes, but those are all illegal businesses, outside of our jurisdiction, we don't bother to regulate them."

Seems to be the same process in Batu Ferringhi..... the illegal businesses along the beach continue to grow without any regulation or control. A show is put on now and then for political reasons, but  nothing changes.

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Looks as if the hoteliers have given up on local authorities to solve these problems and have  made approaches at the Federal level.

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/27touts-2/Article/#ixzz0u1UQyq8C

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"yes, but those are all illegal businesses, outside of our jurisdiction,

ROFL 

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hi,

Many thanks for the translation : chickenoops, nice one.   

From the NST article above it says :

There have been many reports of tourists being ripped off by being charged exorbitant amounts for horse rides, parasailing and jet- skiing activities.

So it seems that the Hoteliers are more concerned with the pricing levels rather than the activities? I thought it was the activities that were the problem.

Isn't it possible to restrict the activities to certain sections of the beach like it's done at Jomtien Beach in Pattaya, Thailand. Presumably the problem now is that the illegal beach vendors will complain that their livelihoods are at risk.

The very nice beach that I go to in Perak doesn't have these problems as there's too few tourists. One of the advantages of being out in the sticks.

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The very nice beach that I go to in Perak doesn't have these problems as there's too few tourists. One of the advantages of being out in the sticks.

Well, I hear Cupert is heading for Perak & is determined to track someone down & give them a lovely surprise.

So, things may change !!

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"hangat-hangat tahi ayam manner."

It means the commitment to tackle that problem will wane as the time goes.

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  please anybody out there whats latest info on the beach scene at Ferringhi is swimming safe/possible without being run down by jetski's in the sea or 4x4 quads with lunatic drivers on the sand. I need some quiet beach time Ferringhi was up to 2 years ago 1st choice but now?

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I can't advise as I have not been back there in the past 8 years. The reason for that is that we found the beaches extremely dirty back then, with open sewers running straight into the sea on a good day, and on a bad day after heavy rain, the sea simply turned black as all the clogged up stagnant waters from the nearby kampungs suddenly got released into the sea.

As for all the beach front activities, the smell of stinking 2 stroke engine fuel fumes wafting over you most of the time (thanks to onshore winds) as you tried to relax on a sun lounger or beach towel & read a book; This was just the icing on the cake.

In conclusion I prefer to spend my 'holiday time' & money on the beautiful unspoiled beaches of Mai Khao Beach (National Park) in Phuket. No motorised vehicles of any sort allowed, and no open sewers running into the sea.

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Basically no change...... jet skis and Quads are still operating, although has been quieter during the fasting month. Water, as usual is not clean.

You can easily find other beaches that are far better than batu ferringhi.

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The sewers and the streams are the real issue.
The quad bokes etc can be fixed easily (if people really want to do it.)
The improvement of water quality is a long term and expensive exercise. We could start with a few "rubbish traps" that would stop a lot of the household rubbish going out to sea but the e coli levels if they were ever published would I suspect astound you. 

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  thanks folks I'd been staying with good family friends at Ferringhi 12-14 years it was all I needed peaceful tranquil good eats and beers up to 2+ years ago, good transport links to Georgetown,  where now to relax unwind swim a little on Penang island. Thoughts ideas appreciated. Have we lost our spell check or is it just out of sight Scott?

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hi, paddy96,

Sorry about the spell-check. Last week the server for the website was switched by the provider, and I've just had a look and the new server doesn't support spell check.

I'll email the Technical Support team to see if there's anything that can be done.

Penang is lucky. There's a beach near me named Senangin. The chicken farm at one end of the beach has an open run off into the sea. All sewage from the village, and all wastes, run directly to the sea. In fact you might as well just wade out and simply bypass the porcelain.

Domestic water seems to come from wells dug slightly away from the rear of the beach. The fly plague is biblical.

Strangely enough the few chalets for rent have rates about the same as a night in a place with mains water and flush toilets.

There must be quite a few such places that were bypassed when mains facilities came along.

Back to Penang.

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where now to relax unwind swim a little on Penang island. Thoughts ideas appreciated.

Do what Penang residents do - fly to Langkawi?  Beautiful beaches and scenery - as good as Thailand but more laid back and everyone speaks English of course 

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  thanks PP and Scott, be good to have "spell check" back help out a weary brain   I've been a frequent visitor to Ferringhi for 12+ years staying with good family friends i've fond memories of a very few retired Land Rovers in operation pulling out fishing boats 1 or 2 jetskis. Unfortunatelly now with high profile 'government officials" behind some of the "major illegal premises" on the beach free reign has been given to local touts mafia  etc too do as and where they wish.