PHUKET: The project includes the installation of many more CCTV cameras and action to counter taxi, tuk-tuk and jet-ski problems.
A crucial part of the plan will be the establishment of the “Patong Safety Zone”. The RTP have set itself a deadline of 30 days to reduce the rate of crime, fraud and violence.
The Deputy Commissioner of the RTP, Pol Gen Pansiri Prapawat, and other high-ranking officers visited Phuket today (July 4) to discuss the project with local authorities, representatives from the taxi, tuk-tuk and jet-ski groups, and hotels operators.
“The government expects Phuket’s income to reach B2 trillion in the next five years,” said Pol Gen Pansiri. “So we have to improve Phuket’s security to bring confidence to the tourism industry.”
On June 22, Deputy Prime Minster Chalerm Yubamrung ordered urgent action by the RTP and local authorities to improve security on the island, so the RTP immediately began work on its “Phuket Model” project.
In the past couple of weeks, officers from RTP headquarters have been to Phuket to survey the island and have uncovered various illegal activities that has resulted in the RTP focusing especially on investigation of Phuket “mafia”.
“It’s impossible to clean up Phuket completely in a short time. But we expect to see some clear results in the next three months,” said Gen Pansiri.
Technology such as CCTV cameras, a “geographic information system” and hotline services will be integrated with serious law enforcement and intensification of intelligence gathering on mafia, cross-matched with criminal records and details of local business operators.
The RTP will send additional officers from its headquarters if needed.
The President of the Phuket Tuk-Tuk Cooperative, Aroon Suksai, said that more than 1,500 drivers and about 1,900 vehicles are registered with 10 vehicle cooperatives in Phuket. But, he added, the number of unregistered vehicles and drivers “cannot be estimated”.
About 236 jet-skis are registered with the Phuket Marine Office, while more than 50 are not.
RTP officers had talks this afternoon with the Pisona Group, run by Preechawut Keesin a son of the Patong Mayor Pian Keesin. Pisona has under its umbrella some 150 taxis. The officers explained the Phuket Model project, and asked Pisona and its drivers for their cooperation.
Mr Preechawut said his taxi ranks, at Jungceylon and JJ Plaza, would support the project.