Phuket Police Volunteers Stop Work over Patong Snub, Scams and Cams: Expats Being Ignored

By Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian

Tuesday, March 10, 2015


PHUKET: Region 8 expat police volunteers - the frontline protectors of tourists in Patong - have stopped work in protest at the contemptuous attitude of Phuket police.

The 35 men and women who usually patrol Soi Bangla and beach road in daylight and after dark opted to go on strike from Thursday when the Patong police commander snubbed them by turning up 90 minutes late for a meeting.

It has been four months since senior police last met with the volunteers, Phuketwan has learned.

''The expat volunteers are fed up at the way in which corruption and inefficiencies are tolerated by the police in Patong,'' a source told Phuketwan last night.

''Tourists usually rely on the volunteers for protection. Regular police are only seen in tourist areas after dark if they are called in.''

The latest indication of lack of respect by Patong police comes as Phuket's Governor Nisit Jansomwong also continues to ignore the holiday island's honorary consuls.

The envoys have been requesting the resumption of regular meetings since he arrived in October last year.

''Standards for tourists have been going downhill rapidly lately,'' said one consul, who preferred to remain anonymous.

The envoy told Phuketwan: ''The views of the most important people on the island - the tourists who bring the money that provides all the revenue and even the extra cash for corrupt payments - are no longer being considered.

''The good relationship and understanding that developed over the years through regular meetings is being blown away.

''What the governor hears these days is a one-sided account from the people who want the tourists' money.''

Listening to the views of tourists and expats now appears to be a low priority.

The strike by the highly-regarded police volunteers seems set to continue until someone in a senior position listens to what they have to say.

Once news of their stop-work reaches international media, Phuket's reputation as a vastly improved safe destination for visitors is likely to be damaged.

Among the issues that the volunteers say the police won't talk about are the jet-ski scams, which the volunteers say continue to occur - especially now that large sections of Patong beach have been given over exclusively to jet-skis and parasail speedboats.

They also say other scams have been reported involving people who offer legal representation at Kathu Police Station while tourist suspects are being interviewed.

''Security cameras in Soi Bangla are turned the wrong way in some places to hide what's going on,'' Phuketwan was told.

''There is also the need for cameras on the beaches to catch the jet-ski scammers and one officer who is part of the scam.''

The clearance of illegal commercial activities by the Army and the Navy from Phuket's beaches last year is seen by honorary consuls as a wonderful step forward for the holiday island.

But many of them see the confusion caused by the vendors since, together with the banning of beach chairs and BYO umbrellas, as a sign that Phuket's appeal is already being undermined all over again.

Phuketwan was unable yesterday to contact senior police in Patong for a comment

Phuket Beach Wedding Shock: Bride and Groom May be Punished for Breaching Rules

Monday, March 9, 2015


PHUKET: Authorities on Phuket are investigating reports that a wedding has taken place on a public beach on the holiday island.

Marriages, the hiring of surfboards and all beach chairs are forbidden on Phuket's popular coastline under new rules supposed to bar commercialism. Instead, the rules are tormenting tourists.

The accusation that a wedding took place illegally on a Phuket beach was seriously being investigated today by the Mayor of Cherng Talay, Ma-Ann Samran, who oversees Surin, Bang Tao, Layan and Laypang beaches, as well as one or two smaller beaches sometimes wrongly described as ''private'' beaches.

Banning weddings and surf board hire is certainly bad for business - but it's the comprehensive ban on tourists bringing their own umbrellas and beach chairs that has caused the biggest criticism.

Phuket's commercialised beaches were reclaimed for the Thai public by the Army and the Navy after the military takeover of the country in May last year.

Although all business is supposed to be banned, jet-skis and parasail speedboats have since expanded their activities - and been granted some prime stretches of Phuket's most popular swimming beach, Patong.

Governor Nisit Jansomwong, back on Phuket after visiting Europe for the ITB Berlin travel fair, is expected to tour several beaches today to assess whether his ''10 percent zone'' idea is working.

The governor's compromise allows umbrella and mat hirers to return to a small proportion of each beach - but the sunbeds that once used to go under the mats remain banned, along with tourists bringing their own chairs.

Tourists puzzle at the logic of this edict. Dramatic scenes are likely if police are reluctantly forced to seize the beach chairs of elderly tourists who say they can probably lay down on beach mats, but some may never be able to get up again.

Articles on the battle over Phuket's beaches have been published all around the world since the clearances removed vendors and many illegal shorefront beach clubs and restaurants last year.

The vendors want to return to the sands because private enterprise on Phuket's public beaches proved profitable for them and made some people rich over three decades.

At the same time, a witchhunt has begun on Phuket to blame Phuketwan for the negative publicity around the globe.

The editor of Phuketwan, Alan Morison, said today: ''We believe in giving an honest account of what's happening on Phuket. Others prefer a dishonest account.

''We are not in the pockets of any of the island's businesspeople. Our only interest is in ensuring that Phuket has a future by fixing all of its problems.

''Pretending these problems don't exist and covering them up is what happens in a fool's paradise.

''We challenge our detractors to a public debate. It really is time these accusers showed the courage to repeat their false claims in public, and listen to the truth for once.''

It's not clear at this stage what punishment the bride and groom will face if it's proven that they liked Phuket so much they broke the rules and got married on a beach.