Brave Enough to Change Phuket
PHUKET: Gangs of the kind being encountered on Phuket appeared to be ''part of the culture of the island,'' a senior Department of Special investigation officer said today.
His comments came as Phuket airport officials got ready for the arrival of a special team of officials from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport who were due to arrive tonight to help fix Phuket's taxi rip-offs.
The DSI's Major Natapol Diisayatham was speaking at the first of a series of weekly meetings designed to share information about the present Phuket corruption cleanup.
''There's a big difference between Phuket and other parts of Thailand,'' Major Natapol told Phuketwan after the meeting.
''Gangs like these on Phuket pose a challenge to the DSI. This is the local culture. They do it their way.
''The law is of no consequence. They do it in their own style.''
He was speaking after the disclosure that brothers Pom and Sern Sukkasam have been arrested and accused of being the standover merchants who extort and intimidate taxi drivers in the Central Festival cab queues. The brothers reject all charges.
The brothers asked drivers at Central Festival for 100,000 to 200,000 baht to buy a place in the queues, Major Natapol said today.
Although there were 179 vehicles in the Central Festival ranks, it was the owners with the most taxis who stood to make the most money, he said.
Talks are to take place tomorrow at the large Phuket shopping mall to find out how the mall managers and the taxi drivers want the taxi system to operate without the brothers' involvement.
From now on as part of the anti-corruption cleanup campaign, a meeting is to be held each Tuesday at Phuket Provincial Hall so that Phuket law enforcers and other officials can exchange information.
Updates are to be filed each Friday, disseminated to all authorities for review on Monday, then discussed at the meeting each Tuesday.
Instigated by Phuket Governor Maitree Intrusud, today's meeting was chaired by Vice Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada.
Phuket Land Transport Department project specialist Jaturong Keawkasisaid told the meeting that there were likely to be more conflicts at the Central Festival ranks, despite the arrest of the brothers.
Only 43 of the 179 taxis in the Central festival queues were legal, he said.
During the investigation, officers had been offered bribes because many of the drivers would prefer not to have to register and become legal, he said.
Airports of Thailand Director, Prathuang Somkhom, who is General Manager of Phuket International Airport, told the meeting that efforts were being made to keep illegal taxis outside the airport perimeter.
But the legal taxis were not on duty in the early morning, so the airport was obliged to allow illegal cabs in to provide a service to passengers arriving after midnight.
He said it could be necessary to offer a surcharge as an inducement to lega taxi drivers to operate from the airport after midnight.
''Whatever changes we make, we cannot make alone,'' he said. ''We will need the help of police and the Transport Department.''
Project specialist Khun Jaturong said that so far, only 1210 of Phuket's total of 2882 taxis had registered. There had been 490 arrests of illegal drivers since August 9, when the DSI team arrived on Phuket, with 300 of those drivers also facing other charges.
Airport GM Khun Prathuang told the meeting that extra officials from Suvarnabhumi were flying in to help deal with the airport's ''black'' taxis.
An unusual comment was made by the vice governor about media coverage. He said that if tuk-tuk drivers beat up ''Mr Bean,'' it became news, but if ''Mr Bean'' beat up a tuk-tuk driver, it was less likely to be reported.
The Chief of Phuket's Marine 5, Phuripat Theerakulpisut, introduced himself at the meeting and said, on the issue of jet-skis: ''I am prepared to guarantee that all of the jet-ski drivers on Phuket are good men.''
He said he was concerned that Thais should also be able to go along to Phuket's two Crime Crisis Centres to complain about expat scammers.
Phuket's honorary consuls have repeatedly made the point over the past few years that tourists and expats who misbehave should be subject to Thai law and be treated exactly the same as every Thai citizen.
Phuketwan can cite instances where ''Mr Beans'' have been involved in illegal activities. Phuketwan has no hesitation in reporting all cases we hear about, without fear or favor.
There are 2 national sports in Thailand:
1/- "Civil disobedience" against the law as everyone loves to flout laws or regulations for fun or money.
2/- "Corruption" where the best sinners are amongst civil servants, politicians and influential people.
The key point is the cleansing of the Thai Administration of its legions of corrupt civil servants. And so far, none, including the DSI and many others, have talked about it and then followed up by.... dragging their feet - endlessly.
Without tacite support of local administration and the corrupt civil servants, those thugs would not have built crime empires in Phuket and keep under fear all the Phuketians, Thais and foreigners alike.
Tourism and Sports Minister, Somsak Pureesrisak said: ''Tourist safety is now on the national agenda in particular a crackdown on mafia gangs in Phuket and Pattaya. Gangsters are now involved in enterprises that directly impact on tourists such as jet-skis and taxis''.
Seemingly, civil servants in Phuket did not receive the message from decision-makers and policy-makers from Bangkok.
Who will do the job because those in charge to enforce the law are corrupt and will not give up easily their 'earnings' paid by businesses through middlemen such as lawyers, accounting offices, influential people, etc.
Posted by Whistle-Blower on September 10, 2013 21:52