Among those present for the meeting, held at Phuket Provincial Hall, were Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong; Samerjit Limlikit, head Phuket Provincial Temporary Passport Office (under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs); and Thaneth Tantipiriyakij, President of the Phuket Tourist Association.
The first order of business was to welcome three representatives to their positions as honorary consuls: Somboon Jirayus as honorary consul for Sweden; Sasit Thavornwongwongse as honorary consul for Brazil; and Nutthaphong Phathakiatpaisan, honorary consul for Mongolia.
According to an official report of the meeting, the key issue discussed was safety and security measures for foreigners in Phuket and building confidence for tourists and foreigners in Phuket.
Governor Sophon said that the government had given importance to Phuket province and pointed out that new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had already visited the island twice. The government will push for income generation from tourism aimed to open the door to receive tourists by providing convenience, he said.
A crackdown to prevent exploitation of tourists was underway and enhanced security measures were being rolled out to create confidence and impress tourists in terms of life and property, he added.
“Important principles of tourist care is to create safety convenience and attraction, with integration from all sectors,” Gov Sophon said.
“Tourist areas are to be organised, including providing various facilities to support tourists of every group, every country, every nationality. In preparing to take care of safety for important tourists, intelligent AI will be pushed in public health. Accidents and road safety is a policy that must be pushed to happen as soon as possible,” he added, according to the official report.
Pol Maj Gen Sermphan said that the Phuket Provincial Police had security measures in place at Phuket International Airport and the Phuket Check Point at Tha Chatchai, “and at various piers and beach areas, which are important tourist attractions”, he said.
“Readiness has been prepared at every point to take care of the safety of tourists. In addition, in order to build confidence for tourists, the Phuket Provincial Police have launched a crackdown on crime. We have also conducted incident-response training simulations, such as at the Central shopping mall, Jungceylon and at Boat Lagoon Pier, and so on,” he added.
Maj Gen Sermphan further said that the Phuket Provincial Police had also held a meeting with car and motorbike rental operators and spoken with honorary consuls from many countries to promote the concept that tourists are to follow important laws, knowing that the laws will be enforced. “Wear a helmet, don’t drink and drive, strictly follow traffic rules,” he said.
Phuket Provincial Police had also overseen the creation of a network of women volunteer security personnel, the official report said, without any further details.
CCTV cameras and drones were being used for traffic management by being linked to the “191 emergency reporting center” at Phuket Provincial Police headquarters, which also linked its feeds and information reports with the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command at Cape Panwa, the official report said.
“All of these measures will be able to build confidence in safety in taking care of tourists who will travel to Phuket province,” the official report concluded.