After four years in the crucible of Yala and Narathiwat, the General knows a thing or two about being alert.
He admits that his heart is still with the officers he worked with in the troubled deep South, but he feels that his experiences there and his empathy for his men will translate into the creation of a more effective force in Phuket.
“I want the Phuket police to be more smartly dressed and more responsive to orders. The Phuket police are not in a dangerous situation. I think of my fellow officers in Narathiwat and Yala who faced danger all the time. No one could be absent-minded or inattentive because someone would be shot or would die.
“So, moving to Phuket, I wonder what [my former colleagues] will think about me, staying in comfort here. I would like them to know that I am not just kicking back in this Phuket ‘Paradise’. As a result, I have to work harder,” he says with a laugh.
He will be applying what he learned in the South to Phuket’s security. “The security zones I set up in Yala were safe and sound. I may use the same system and apply it to Patong.
“Tourism is an important earner of income for Thailand and in Phuket there are many consulates, which means there is an international focus on tourism in the island.
“So I have to think about what processes are appropriate for keeping tourists safe from swindlers, mafia and drug problems.
“In the case of drugs, my main focus will be more on the distributors than the users.”
Gen Choti said that Phuket police, because they live in a comfortable environment without dangers such as they would face in the deep South, have become complacent, and do not work as hard as they should for the island’s citizens.
With a wicked smile, he warned, “If they don’t work harder, I can always swap them for some of my former colleagues in Yala or Narathiwat.”