News Analysis
PHUKET'S honorary consuls and embassy representatives will meet with the Governor and Phuket's senior police and department leaders on Monday in the midst of a veritable expat crime wave.
Here's a gem plucked from the feedback section of the Bangkok Post this week: ''Phuket is the Crime Capital of Asia, by far the worst possible place for a tourist, foreign or Thai to visit. Murder, Rape and Assault are common place and no nationality is spared.''
Is it true? Definitely not. The sentence is a figment of someone's vivid imagination - which actually makes it very similar to most of the overly scary national travel alerts for Thailand of the past few months.
Tourists especially are seldom the victims of crime on Phuket, although it does seem that they definitely do need to look out for fellow-travellers lately.
In recent weeks, crimes committed by expats, sometimes on other expats, are what has been the cause of greatest concern, with the slaying of bar hostess Wanpen Pianchai by American Ronald Fanelli and the apparent murder of former US Marine DaShawn Longfellow by Englishman-fugitive Lee Aldhouse at the top of a growing list.
If there has been an increase in crime on the island, it has barely impacted on Phuket's tourists. In 99.9 percent of cases, they come and go without finding any trouble - beyond the excessive prices of food and local transport services.
It's the other 0.1 percent that bring most attention, though, the one in a thousand who commit a crime or are the victim of one.
At Monday's summit the crimes committed by and on expats will be a major focus. This is for two reasons: Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob and the Phuket police would like the honorary consuls to make sure that tourists coming to Phuket are aware that crimes will not be tolerated, and that a stint in Phuket Prison is no holiday.
For their part, the honorary consuls and embassy representatives will again ask Phuket's police to notify them immediately whenever an expat gets arrested. Lately, the telephones should have been running hot . . . yet often, the honorary consuls still find out about citizens' arrests from other sources.
Recognising the importance of the innovative ''mini-United Nations,'' the Foreign Ministry is taking a great interest and is holding a seminar of its own for national representatives on Monday morning.
Twenty-two nations have been invited to send representatives to Monday afternoon's summit meeting at Provincial Hall in Phuket City. However, the level of interest seems to vary considerably.
Germany's Ambassador to Thailand, Dr Hanns H. Schumacher, is making a special visit to Phuket. Yet on Friday, the US Embassy in Bangkok was unable to inform Phuketwan whether or not it would send a representative.
One of the most important issues for Phuket and tourism remains whether US Navy vessels can continue to anchor off the island for liberty without leave-taking personnel running the risk of blockades by local tuk-tuk and taxi drivers.
The latest group of US vessels was, we believe, due to visit Phuket in July. Phuketwan has been told the liberty leave was cancelled - not because of the three taxi and tuk-tuk blockades of US personnel that have occurred so far, but because the vessels were suddenly diverted to waters off the ''hot'' Korea Peninsula.
Officials at Provincial Hall in Phuket City, the island administration's HQ, have undertaken to make sure a fourth blockade does not occur, because that would put future US warship visits at risk. Only with the next visit by warships will that promise, and the island's capacity to restrain its wilder, lawless elements, be put to the test.
The governor's two quarterly special summits so far this year have been a productive exchange of ideas and innovations, with transparency at the core.
Thorny issues including high-priced tuk-tuks and taxis, plus the need for an efficient and reasonably priced public transport system, are again likely to be high on the agenda of items for discussion this Monday.
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The statement made at BKK post forum that "Phuket is the crime capital of Asia" . . . I do understand a little where it comes from.....
It is a fact that although crime is now more and more reported in the media (mainly by Phuket Wan - Thank you) we all know well that many-many crimes are never recorded at all! We all cannot deny that Phuket can be very violent!
There are many crimes settled out of court with money and with the full knowledge of the law enforcement!
I still cannot understand (and never will) why it is accepted by law enforcement that people are allowed to settled serious crimes without law enforcement involvement - even when the crime committed was clearly violent and/or against the law. This shows clearly that money is more important than the law or the right actions!
Phuket is however safer for foreigners than it is for our fellow Thai friends. Thais can get hit for simply looking in another person's face after dark! Whereby most foreigner are in trouble because they somehow asked for the trouble - with a some exceptions of course.
Keep up your good work. I am 100 percent certain that your work helps a lot and keeps the authorities awake! (Although i am also certain that sometimes you also face big obstacles when reporting the trues!)
Posted by Mr. K on August 21, 2010 15:11