Pha Ngan district chief Krirkkrai Songthanee inspected the Sai Daeng resort on Friday after pictures of the water-slide construction appeared in social media and raised many eyebrows.

“The ongoing construction has taken place without permission. So, I order the construction of the water slide be removed within 15 days from now,” he said.

He added that relevant authorities would also look into whether the Sai Daeng resort was operating legally. At this point, resort manager Kijja Senajit can provide only land-rights documents and the request to operate a resort.

The request was submitted in 2015 but it remains unclear whether the request has been approved.

“We have not yet ordered the closure of the resort because there are many agencies involved. We will have to investigate further,” Krirkkrai said.

Kijja said the resort would comply with the order and explained that they had planned to erect the water slide to provide additional facilities for tourists. “We don’t intend to use a water slide to generate extra income,” he said.