Gen Decha Budnampeth, who moved into his new job at the beginning of October, visited Phuket on Friday afternoon (October 24) to set out his policy for Phuket, in support of national police policy.
“We have different policies for different tourism areas,” he said. “It depends on the culture and way of life. It may look the same, but the way problems will be tackled is different.
“For Phuket, we have two underpasses under construction on the main road, which are causing huge traffic problems. Whether you arrive in Phuket by air or by sea, you must still travel by road. So I stressed that police officers must support and help road users to have a more comfortable time.”
Because there are only 1,100 police in Phuket, when there should be 1,800, the efficiency of the existing officers must be improved, Gen Decha said.
“Filing complaint at 7-Eleven shops is the great idea; people are more familiar with 7-Elevens than they are with police stations. We will expand this project across Phuket,” he explained.
He also noted that the investigation into influential people and taxi “mafia” acivities is still ongoing. He joked, “We will soon have no mafia in Phuket, just ‘Ma-Free’ (comes for free),” he joked.
Asked about police taking bribes, he answered, “If there are no givers [of bribes], the result will be no receivers.
“There are white and black sides to every dimension, including the police. My viewpoint is, how we can we reduce it?”
That said, he added, “Those who break the law must be punished.”