DEVELOPERS are trying to overturn a ban on high-rise buildings on the resort island of Phuket, amid fears of a nationwide environmental backlash against the property sector.
The prohibition, implemented last November, limits building heights in Thailand's most popular tourist spot to 12 metres in a bid to protect the deteriorating coastal ecology.
Tourism executives included the resorts in a major industry development plan that recommends developers be pressured to contribute more to preserving the environment.
Hotels are cited as the main cause of beach pollution, from their failure to install waste-water and sewage treatment facilities.
But local authorities claim the restrictions are killing off the property industry, and prompting hotel developers to take their business elsewhere.
''In its present form, this rule is too strict and impractical. We are not asking for it to be lifted entirely, but we do want amendments to help the property sector,'' said the Phuket Governor, Dr Yuwath Vuthimedhi.