PHUKET CITY authorities have added 20 million baht to the council's pawn shop capacity as cash-hit parents prepare to send their children back to school in mid-May. Officials say they have seldom seen so many people on Phuket in need of assistance, with more than 4000 people seeking to pawn items at just one pawn shop in the first three weeks of April.


PHUKET police are concerned that a prolonged dip in tourist numbers could boost crime and violence on the holiday island, especially among the young.

Snatch-and-grab raids by armed motorcycle bandits who have no concern for the safety of their victims are already a dangerous feature of life both in daylight and after dark on the island.

Phuket police chief Major General Pekad Tantipong told Phuketwan: ''Now, I am mostly worried about the young.'' His concerns are reflected among others who deal with Phuket's increasing numbers of delinquents.

The Phuket juvenile detention centre is already beyond its maximum capacity. People who work there have told Phuketwan privately that the present system does not deter under-age criminals, nor does it give them the proper opportunity to ''go straight.''

Instead, one source said, parents and the system unwittingly conspire to produce a breed of young, hardened criminals for whom violence and theft seem to be the only options.

In recent months, a steady stream of juvenile criminals have been presented to the media behind hoods. If accused perpetrators are under 18, their identities cannot be revealed.

This measure is designed to protect people who remain officially categorised as children, but who are nevertheless mature enough to be capable of vicious criminal behavior.

Major General Pekad's concerns are supported by official figures that show 40 percent of the detention centre's inmates are returnees - youngsters who are possibly already on the way to becoming habitual criminals.

''In good times or in bad, people see Phuket as a great destination to come to from all over Thailand in search of work,'' Major General Pekad said. ''If work disappears, the children are often the ones who suffer.''

Records show that 70 percent of juvenile crimes on Phuket are committed by children who are not attending school.

''There is a danger they will have no school, no job except for crime, and therefore no future,'' the major general said.

Concerns are mounting among Phuket's police all over the island.

Unhampered red protests in Bangkok combined with general international travel alerts for Thailand point towards a dramatic slide in Phuket jobs and income, which will inevitably trigger increased juvenile crime.

Phuket has long had a problem with young criminals especially, but with hundreds of police also being sent as reinforcements to Bangkok, the island's pressure-cooker of crime suppression threatens to blow.

Colonel Wichit Intharasorn, of Chalong police station, in Phuket's south, told Phuketwan: ''We can't do a lot. Parents and other relatives tend to get their kids out on bail as quickly as they can, which usually means the kids only have a few days in detention.

''This is time for them to learn new criminal skills from others, and not much else.''

Insiders at the detention centre agreed that the situation needs to change, and quickly. Colonel Wichit believes the law, which is designed to protect the children, needs to change to put an emphasis on rehabilitation.

''The system works better in Bangkok where children tend to be left inside detention for longer, allowing them to absorb some lessons about telling right from wrong.

''It's more difficult on Phuket. Parents here do not seem to understand that their children remain in danger as long as they commit to crime.''

The statistics tell a chilling story: when Phuketwan checked last week, there were 76 youngsters in the Phuket detention centre, including seven girls and 12 children from Phang Nga, where there is no centre. The Phuket centre, at Saphan Hin in Phuket City, is built to hold 55-60 children.

A total of 39 percent of the children faced charges involving crimes of violence. Another 36 percent were being held over drugs. A further 10 percent had been involved in teen gang wars.

If police and detention centre staff are growing more worried about an economic downturn triggering increasing numbers of violent robberies, then residents and visitors will need to be on their guard in coming months.