PHUKET: At least one Immigration officer working at Phuket International Airport is seeking to earn extra money as an illegal taxi driver.
Tourists and expats have complained about Phuket's taxi drivers seeking fares inside the no-go area at the airport as passengers pick up their luggage from the carousels.
The Immigration officer went one better last night.
He propositioned two Phuketwan journalists who had just arrived on Phuket on a flight from Singapore before they had been processed by Immigration and officially arrived on Phuket.
The man, dressed in civilian clothes but wearing an Immigration pass around his neck, approached and spoke to the two journalists as they walked across Phuket's arrivals hall towards the Immigration counter.
Their arrivals cards and passports were still in their hands.
''Are you a Thai? Do you need a taxi to get back to Phuket Town?'' the officer said to one of the journalists.
''I have just finished my shift. I am going into Phuket Town. Where are you going to stay?''
The journalists were shocked and kept moving towards the Immigration counter. Another officer, dressed in uniform, was a couple of paces behind the officer dressed in civilian clothes.
''Do you have a taxi?'' he asked. The journalists kept walking.
Had the officer in civvies known the pair he was talking to were journalists, he may not have said anything.
Airports of Thailand, which manages Phuket airport, has announced its intention to sort out the problems with taxis, both legal and illegal.
Progress has been made. There's greater efficiency at the Immigration desk, both departing and arriving.
But from the approach made by the immigration officer to two Phuketwan journalists, it's plain that some people at Phuket's airport have yet to learn that opportunism now is frowned upon.
In the airport car park, signs of the bad old days also linger.
Instead of being picked up straight away on exiting the airport, large numbers of Russian tourists are still forced to march to a remote corner of the car park to board their minivans.
Tourists and expats have complained about Phuket's taxi drivers seeking fares inside the no-go area at the airport as passengers pick up their luggage from the carousels.
The Immigration officer went one better last night.
He propositioned two Phuketwan journalists who had just arrived on Phuket on a flight from Singapore before they had been processed by Immigration and officially arrived on Phuket.
The man, dressed in civilian clothes but wearing an Immigration pass around his neck, approached and spoke to the two journalists as they walked across Phuket's arrivals hall towards the Immigration counter.
Their arrivals cards and passports were still in their hands.
''Are you a Thai? Do you need a taxi to get back to Phuket Town?'' the officer said to one of the journalists.
''I have just finished my shift. I am going into Phuket Town. Where are you going to stay?''
The journalists were shocked and kept moving towards the Immigration counter. Another officer, dressed in uniform, was a couple of paces behind the officer dressed in civilian clothes.
''Do you have a taxi?'' he asked. The journalists kept walking.
Had the officer in civvies known the pair he was talking to were journalists, he may not have said anything.
Airports of Thailand, which manages Phuket airport, has announced its intention to sort out the problems with taxis, both legal and illegal.
Progress has been made. There's greater efficiency at the Immigration desk, both departing and arriving.
But from the approach made by the immigration officer to two Phuketwan journalists, it's plain that some people at Phuket's airport have yet to learn that opportunism now is frowned upon.
In the airport car park, signs of the bad old days also linger.
Instead of being picked up straight away on exiting the airport, large numbers of Russian tourists are still forced to march to a remote corner of the car park to board their minivans.
very good work
and now push for clear the situation about hotel staff and TukTukMafia connection.
Posted by beppe on November 25, 2013 18:06