The two-day training, which began yesterday (Sept 3), is being held at the gymnasium at Phuket Rajabhat University.
The training is being conducted by Provincial Police Training Center Region 8 and officers from the Royal Thai Police crowd control division.
At the opening ceremony for the training course yesterday, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Lt Col Chaiwat Uikam explained that the training was mandatory, required by the Public Assembly Act 2015.
“Section 19 Paragraph 7 states that ‘Public assembly officials and the police officers assigned to oversee public assemblies must be trained to have the skills, understanding and tolerance for situations of public assembly, and must wear uniforms to be clearly identified and may use crowd control tools as prescribed by the Minister,” he said.
“The officers will be trained in basic crowd control tactics and techniques according to UN guidelines, to identify problems, obstacles, and difficulties in the operation of crowd control,” he added.
Those who pass the training will receive a certificate confirming they had successfully completed the course, he said.
Addressing the the officers taking part in the training, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Rungrote Thakurapunyasiri said, “According to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 (2017), Section 44 provides a provision to certify and protect the freedom of public assembly that a person shall enjoy the freedom of peaceful assembly, and unarmed restriction of liberty cannot be done except by virtue of the provisions of the law to maintain the security of the state, public safety, the peace or for the the good of the people or to protect the rights or freedoms of other persons, for which the law specifically enacted to oversee public assembly is the Public Assembly Act 2015.
“The Royal Thai Police through Provincial Police Region 8 and the Phuket Provincial Police see the importance of training police officers who will be assigned to supervise public gatherings to foster [among the officers] their knowledge, understanding, increase their skills and tolerance for situations of public assembly,” he added.
Maj Gen Rungrote continued, “We ask the selected trainees that when carrying out the important duty of crowd control to please consider taking care of the [people in the] crowd, to preserve order, and to take care of the security of the people of Phuket.”