UK Ambassador

UK Ambassador puts Phuket safety on common agenda

British Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahmad (right) today focused
talks on boosting safety through mutual cooperation.

PHUKET: -- UK Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahmad met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha this afternoon to discuss a slew of issues affecting British residents and tourists, with the aim of working together with local authorities to boost safety on the island.

“We have 850,000 British tourists who visit Thailand every year. I’ll say up to half come to Phuket… The majority of British residents and tourists here have nothing other than a good time – only a few have problems,” said the ambassador.

“The biggest challenge for us is to educate and advise our own citizens: Do not do in Thailand what you would not do at home. Nobody in the UK would go on a motorcycle without a helmet. It’s impossible. They’d be arrested in five minutes.

“It’s a serious issue – we lose many people here from motorcycle injuries – and there are an alarming number of injuries. That’s something we want to work on,” he added.

“We want to come back to Phuket before June to run a campaign to explain to tourists about basic safety, including to not go swimming in the monsoon season,” Amb Ahmad said.

The ambassador also raised the issue of how reports of sex attacks, regardless of victims’ gender or nationality, were handled by police.

“I have been discussing this today, especially crimes and sex offenses against women. If they are attacked, no matter whether they are Thai, Russian or British – the issue is the same.

“Police should be trained to deal with the situation sympathetically – and women officers, not male officers, should be handling the investigation,” he said.

“I want to bring some British expertise in these area, and counseling on prosecution. That’s one good example of something we can cooperate with Thailand on,” he added.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong, who met Amb Ahmad earlier in the day, told  reporters, “Ambassador Asif said he will help by talking to the Commissioner-General in Bangkok about the need for female police officers in Phuket.

“Right now there are no female investigation officers in Phuket,” he said. “All of them work at [Royal Thai Police] headquarters in Bangkok. If they transfer a few female officers to us, that would be great.”

Cdr Pekad said his office had formally requested female officers to be posted to Phuket, but had yet to receive a reply.

“Phuket police are still using male officers to investigate these cases, and female foreign victims do not feel comfortable talking about this in front of male officers,” he said.

“We need cooperation from the victims, otherwise we cannot do anything about the attack,” he added.

Amb Ahmad also raised two critical topics: tuk-tuks and jet-skis.

Regarding threatening jet-ski operators and bogus insurance claims, Amb Ahmad said that he believed the issue was mixed.

“There are appropriate places for jet-skis. I am not sure a crowded beach is one of them. I believe some claims of damage being done to jet-skis are genuine, and that not all jet-ski operators are ‘bad’, but the bad ones do need to be dealt with,” he said.

Gov Tri said, “We admit that problems exist and we are trying hard to solve them.”

He pointed out the recent breakthrough in having most tuk-tuks in Patong agreeing to set maximum fares, with public feedback to be collected after three months.

However, Amb Ahmad suggested that all tuk-tuks in Phuket be fitted with meters, like taxis in Bangkok.

“I think [the tuk-tuk situation] is not perfect, but it’s getting better… [If meters were installed]. What the meter tells you is what you pay. That’s the best way to deal with this situation,” he said.

Last night in speaking with the press, Amb Ahmad announced some good news for residents on the island.

He confirmed the British embassy in Bangkok was looking to return to Phuket in June or July with “surgeries” offering consular services similar to those conducted by the US embassy.

He also praised the efforts of British Honorary Consul to Phuket Martin Carpenter, who “does a lot of invaluable ‘front line’ work for us very well," he said.

Mr Carpenter confirmed there were "between 5,000 and 6,000" British nationals living on Phuket.

Lifeguards

Phuket beaches left unguarded

Tourists on Phuket beaches now have no lifeguards to protect them.

PHUKET: -- The Phuket Lifeguard Club's contract to protect the island’s beaches expired on Friday, leaving tourists to swim unprotected in seas that claimed many lives last year.

On Saturday, staff removed their equipment from the beaches.

The 9.9-million-baht contract to guard the beaches is put out on an annual tender, which critics claim is too short a period of time.

As yet it is unclear whether Phuket Lifeguard Club will bid for the tender to provide the service again this year.

From April 26 last year, the club says it saved 1,064 foreigners and 285 Thais from drowning on the 13 beaches it patrols.

It was unable to prevent 13 deaths: two in Surin, one in Kata, one in Nai Thon and nine in Karon, Phuket’s most dangerous beach.

Phuket Issues

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Phuket consuls keep pressure on tuk-tuk, jet-ski scams

German Honorary Consul Dirk Naumann asks why a trip from Patong to Phuket Airport in an open-air tuk-tuk costs three times as much as a trip from central Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport in an air-conditioned taxi.

Phuket Marine Police chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut denied that influential figures were involved in systematic extortion of tourists who rent jet-skis in Phuket.

PHUKET: Following the success of the honorary consuls’ meetings in Phuket, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has announced that a nationwide gathering of all honorary consuls will be held at the ministry in Bangkok next month.

News of the meeting was announced by Korn Suwanasai, director of the MFA Passport office in Phuket, at the first Phuket Honorary Consuls Meeting in 2011, chaired by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday.

Organized by the MFA Department of Protocol, the Bangkok meeting will take place at the MFA offices on Sri Ayudhya Road on March 9, starting at 10:30am.

All honorary consuls in Thailand will receive formal invitations, Mr Korn said.

Tuk-tuks

Jet-ski scams and overpricing by taxi and tuk-tuk drivers dominated the agenda at yesterday’s meeting.

Governor Tri began the meeting by outlining progress made since the previous meeting, including the introduction of maximum rate fares agreed to by some 80% of tuk-tuk drivers in Patong, all members of the Patong Taxi Federation.

The consuls were also shown slides of uniforms and ID badges to be worn by the federation members.

German Honorary Consul Dirk Naumann lauded Gov Tri for his efforts to address taxi and tuk-tuk issues, saying, “Our new governor has done more in three months than his predecessors did in three years.”

A tangible result of this was freeing up of parking spaces along the beach road in Patong, which before were almost completely monopolized by taxi drivers, tuk-tuk drivers and vehicle rental operators, he said.

However, Mr Naumann said the set fares in Patong were too expensive, producing documentary evidence that the rates were several times higher than in Bangkok – and more expensive than in Germany, where the cost of living overall is much higher.

Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukhaban argued that Patong’s mountainous terrain, one-way road system and other factors all conspired to make operating costs in the seaside town higher than many realized.

Open-air tuk-tuks were more expensive to buy than air-conditioned taxis, he added.

Mr Naumann said that if that was the case, then air-conditioned taxis should be used instead of the two-stroke tuk-tuks.

Governor Tri said that the fares, which impose a maximum fare of 200 baht for journeys within Patong, plus 50 baht per head for each additional passenger above four, would be reassessed after a three-month trial, after gaining feedback from tourists.

The 200-baht fare was a maximum and passengers were free to negotiate cheaper fares for short journeys, he added.

The ultimate goal was to have all tuk-tuks legally registered with yellow plates and fitted with meters, which would naturally lead to a reduction in fares, he said.

He asked for three more months to make further progress on this and several other matters of concern raised by the consuls during the meeting.

Jet-skis

Referencing a recent report in the Australian media, Honorary Consul Larry Cunningham said systematic extortion of tourists by jet-ski rental operators was driving tourists to rival destinations.

One recent report generated within six hours some 150 online comments by other tourists who said they had been similarly taken advantage of during their holidays in Phuket, he said.

The level of abuse had already prompted the Australian government to issue a formal advisory not to rent jet-skis in Phuket, yet problems persist and Australian tourists don’t know where to turn for help when they are victimized, Mr Cunningham said.

He called for police to establish a police box on Patong Beach to report such abuses.

Informed that both Patong Police and the Tourist Police already maintain boxes on the beach, he said they were too distant from where the abuses were taking place, typically on the stretch of beach near the Holiday Inn resort.

The mandatory insurance scheme for jet-ski operators was “gone with the wind” due to lack of compliance, he said.

Noting that Krabi province recently banned jet-skis, he also queried whether the actions of “influential people” were responsible for perpetuating the situation, which he said badly damaged Phuket’s reputation worldwide.

Phuripat Theerakulpisut, Chief of the Marine Police branch in Phuket, denied that influential figures were involved.

Jet-ski operators were just typical Thai people living a hand-to-mouth existence, he said.

“They aren’t rich people like you,” he told the Australian.

He also pointed out that his officers lacked the legal authority to arrest operators who brought in jet-skis from other provinces.

Drugged tourists

British Honorary Consul Martin Carpenter told the governor that he had received at least two reports of tourists who claim to have been drugged, one remaining unconscious for 16 hours afterward.

He also called for more police officers with special training in dealing with victims of sexual assault.

Phuket Provincial Police Superintendent Pekad Tantipong said officers with this kind specialized training were few in number throughout Thailand, and most that did have the training were assigned to Bangkok.

Airport security

Norwegian consul Pornphan Sitthichaivijit asked for increased security clearance at Phuket Airport.

Consular staff should be allowed to accompany VIP visitors and other special cases right to the gate when departing, as they are allowed to do at other airports in Thailand, she said.

Missing people

Irish Honorary Consul Helene Fallon-Wood thanked Maj Gen Pekad for his assistance in helping to track down an eight-year-old boy who had been reported missing since June 2010.

German arrested for fraud

Mr Naumann thanked Phuket Immigration Police Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak for help in arresting German national Lars Scheffczik, 38.

Mr Scheffczik, arrested on Monday at his home in Chalong, will be charged with Internet fraud.

He had been living illegally in Thailand for three years with his Thai wife and two children since his passport was taken away.

Mr Naumann said he had personally taken away the German’s passport.

Numerous other issues were discussed during the two-and-a-half hour meeting.

The next local consuls’ meeting is scheduled to take place at Phuket Provincial Hall at 2pm on May 23.