Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Rungrote Thakurapunyasiri officiated the formal honor guard welcome for Lt Gen Aung Win Oo and his entourage of 14 inspectors at Phuket Provincial Police headquarters in Phuket Town yesterday afternoon.
Following the official welcome, the visitors observed a Royal Thai Police special operations unit conducting several hostage-rescue simulations, including one of a bank robbery with hostages taken into six separate rooms and the situation of rescuing hostages on a bus.
Gen Rungrote explained that the Myanmar Police Chief was in Phuket to attend the 21st bilateral meeting between Thailand and Myanmar on “Cooperation on the Prevention and Suppression of Drug Abuse”, being held in Phuket from Oct 28-Nov 1.
“This is the first trip [of a Myanmar Police Chief] to Phuket as a guest of the Royal Thai Police, and the Phuket Police have been charged with welcoming the group. The Region 8 Police Headquarters gives them an honorable welcome,” Gen Rungrote said.
Gen Rungrote also noted that the relationship between Thailand and Myanmar police extends to exchange on information in the suppression of drug trafficking and the arrest of international fugitives.
“There are close informal relations between each other,” he said.