PHUKET'S Tourist Police are planning to put a roof over the heads of tourists in trouble. It won't be anything flash, mind you. Nothing five-star or even three-star.
But Tourist Police chief Colonel Ekachai Pramanakul believes it will be useful to have a one-bedroom demountable ''home'' at the Tourist Police headquarters in Phuket City for visitors in an emergency.
Have your passport, cash and credit cards stolen? The next call, after the one to alert your honorary consul or embassy, could best be to the Tourist Police, to see if the ''home'' is vacant.
And it won't just be a haven for tourists in trouble on Phuket, but for any expat who finds himself or herself in a position where putting a roof over their heads becomes difficult.
''If someone fell in love with a Thai girl, for example, then got duped and discovered she had taken everything, this would be a place where they could stay,'' Colonel Ekachai said.
Given that some men decide to end it all when their Thai true love turns out to be a trickster, the Tourist Police knockdown house in Phuket City could even prove to be a real lifesaver.
The cost of the haven is 50,000 baht, and Colonel Ekachai hopes to have a delivery date later in the week. It will go at the new Tourist Police hq in Yaowarat Road, Phuket City.
Phuket's most active honorary consuls are likely to be pleased to have a place where tourists down on their luck or hapless victims can be referred for help.
Colonel Ekachai is also trying to organise a fund so that visitors in real need of cash can be given loans to tide them through a crisis.
''It wouldn't be available to every tourist or to beggars or to people who have been involved with drugs,'' he said. ''But we would really like to help good tourists.''
Phuket Boat Show Tests Phuket's EconomyBut Tourist Police chief Colonel Ekachai Pramanakul believes it will be useful to have a one-bedroom demountable ''home'' at the Tourist Police headquarters in Phuket City for visitors in an emergency.
Have your passport, cash and credit cards stolen? The next call, after the one to alert your honorary consul or embassy, could best be to the Tourist Police, to see if the ''home'' is vacant.
And it won't just be a haven for tourists in trouble on Phuket, but for any expat who finds himself or herself in a position where putting a roof over their heads becomes difficult.
''If someone fell in love with a Thai girl, for example, then got duped and discovered she had taken everything, this would be a place where they could stay,'' Colonel Ekachai said.
Given that some men decide to end it all when their Thai true love turns out to be a trickster, the Tourist Police knockdown house in Phuket City could even prove to be a real lifesaver.
The cost of the haven is 50,000 baht, and Colonel Ekachai hopes to have a delivery date later in the week. It will go at the new Tourist Police hq in Yaowarat Road, Phuket City.
Phuket's most active honorary consuls are likely to be pleased to have a place where tourists down on their luck or hapless victims can be referred for help.
Colonel Ekachai is also trying to organise a fund so that visitors in real need of cash can be given loans to tide them through a crisis.
''It wouldn't be available to every tourist or to beggars or to people who have been involved with drugs,'' he said. ''But we would really like to help good tourists.''
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I like the idea.... good positive PR for Phuket! Hope it will materialise!
Posted by Mr. K on January 3, 2011 12:10