Boat houses on the Sun Moon Lake may be a major tourist attraction, but many of them have been reported to be illegal. The local authorities recently issued a warning, demanding the removal of unauthorized units, and owners who fail to comply may face a penalty of up to five years in prison.

The floating houses are like many cabins, offering tourists karaoke and a place to fish.

Those cabins are built on rafts and of the 172 of them, 79 are illegally operating on the lake.

Recently, tourists filed complaints that waste water from the cabins were dumped into the lake and polluting it.

After the incident, Nantou prosecutor ruled that the lake surface is considered national property and those illegally doing business with their floating houses need to tear them down or face charges of illegally occupy national property and maximum prison terms of 5 years.

The decision was faced with those operators shamelessly saying that they need to make the ends meet and theres no need for such action and not acknowledging that they are doing business without license.