The missive, dated February 13 and signed by Governor Chamroen, asked for all local government office heads to coordinate with the respective police, military and security chiefs to ensure that precautionary inspections are carried out, and to ensure that there are no black spots in CCTV coverage. (See story here.)
Col Teerapol Thipjaroen, Commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, however, told The Phuket News today that the order was “nothing serious”.
“Actually, it’s just normal working process to push officials in other area to be more active,” he said. “And especially with Phuket having lots of tourists around, we are just being careful.”
Col Teerapol did not elaborate on who the “non-peaceful people” were or what their intentions might be.
“Phuket is generally pretty safe. We have been working hard on ensuring public safety in Phuket since the incident in Bangkok,” he said.
Regarding the Governor’s order being leaked to the media, Col Teerapol added, “It memo was accidentally shared with the media. The Phuket Governor is now questioning the officials involved in that.”