Island officials will pin a large part of their hopes on a much more effective CCTV camera system.
Today’s meeting heard that in “safety zones” in Patong, Kata, Karon and the airport, direct phones will be mounted below cameras, to allow anyone to call the camera control centre in case of trouble.
In addition, the camera system will be open to all. Anyone will be able to go to the CCTV system website and look at images from individual cameras on the island. The whole system will be run by a specially formed security team.
Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada said, “I believe the CCTV system will be helpful and will reduce crime on the island.”
It will also, he said, make it easier to regulate and improve low quality transport providers, to control rip-off pricing and to manage tourist areas in general.
Pol Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangkul agreed. “Most tourists need to know the price of transport. For them to be confident, they want to see fixed prices on a chart for all taxis, tuk-tuks and transport services.”
But Aroon Suksai, representing tuk-tuk and meter taxi operators was not optimistic. “We did display lists of prices [a couple of years ago] but it didn’t work because most of the drivers would not respect the rules.”
V/Gov Chamroen said: “Phuket is quite a small island but it has huge problems. It required cooperation from many sectors to solve and regulate all a problems, including pollution, timeshare operations, jet-skis and and transport, so that things are sorted out before the next high season in Phuket.”