SENIOR POLICE and local officials gathered on February 28 at a ceremony marking the start of building for the new regional police headquarters on Phuket.
It's the ground-breaking beginning of a new era for policing and tourist security on the island.
The presence of national police commissioner General Seripisut Temiyavej indicates the importance of the day's activities.
The 170 million baht regional command HQ project at Mai Khao is just one of several changes that herald and highlight an increasing police presence all over the island.
Today the switchover will take place from the old Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint on the main road to a new one, beside the Mai Khao administration building.
But many more significant changes are on the way.
Better use of new technology, closer checks on visitors who arrive by sea, a new local police headquarters in Phuket City, possible new branch stations at Karon and Tha Chat Chai, a new Immigration HQ, and a new central office for the Tourist Police are also signs of improving security.
Change is coming fast. Before long, local police may even be wearing new uniforms, looser and cooler than the old figure-hugging ones, and in a new color, too.
A lot has happened since the middle of last year when the then incoming President of the Phuket Tourist Association, Maitree Narukatpichai, told Phuketwan that he was deeply concerned about security on the island.
A long-time island resident and the owner of the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, Khun Maitree told us he wanted, more than anything, was to make Phuket a safer, more secure destination.
His prime objective then: to find some more police, quickly.
The PTA represents more than 300 organizations, from restaurants to tour guides to souvenir shops and large resort brands. It exerts influence and devotes time and money to road shows and trade shows to encourage more visitors.
He told Phuketwan at the time: ''The police, we only have 1068 for all those people [Phuket's population of one million or more in high season].
''If you divide it, I don't think the police can handle it. We are lucky nothing serious happens in Phuket.
''Traffic and movement is around the clock. Three shifts . . . you're talking about 300-and-something per shift. A lot of VIPs visit. There's a lot of activity, so they have to use a lot of police.
''I am trying to give this issue priority.''
Local police leaders had no hesitation in agreeing that Phuket needed an extra 500 police. Perhaps change had already been sparked.
Whatever Khun Maitree told the authorities, it seems to have been effective.
Today, the first soil will be turned on the new regional police headquarters at Mai Khao. Region 8 Command HQ sits on 150 rai and is due for completion before 2009.
Next month, as Phuketwan has already reported in detail, the new, sophisticated 12 million baht Immigration HQ is due to open in Phuket City.
The new Superintendent of Phuket Immigration, Police Colonel Chanatpol Yongbunjerd, told us that he expects new technology will be employed more effectively to speed visa requests as well as in pursuit of transgressors.
Tourist Police are also expected to benefit from more widespread use of computer technology and the Immigration data base. They will also work more closely with Immigration in other ways.
At the same time, a new provincial police HQ is being built at a cost of 21 million baht in Yaowarat Road, Phuket City, just a hundred metres or so around the corner from the existing Phuket police station. It is due for completion in September 2008.
Soon, Phuketwan can also reveal, work will begin on a new Phuket headquarters for the Tourist Police, close to the new police HQ. The budget for the TP building, which will also be three storeys, is 15 million baht.
Tourist Police currently rent premises in the Bypass Road and will move to the new building in 2009 if building begins shortly, as planned.
The new building will be the official HQ for the new Chief of the island's Tourist Police, Police Major Sathabhorn Sangaunsuk, and his 18 staff officers.
Today's sod-turning may be the most significant gathering of senior police on the island in its recent history, marking as it does the beginning of the transfer of the Royal Thai Police Region 8 command headquarters from Surat Thani to Phuket.
Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit says the move reflects the policy of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok to establish Phuket as the center of tourism in Southern Thailand.
It will, says the governor, ''further cement the island's status as an international city.''
It will also ''ensure that we have an adequate police presence to provide safety and security for residents and tourists alike.''
Police Region 8 oversees officers in the provinces of Surat Thani, Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Ranong, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Chumphon.
It's the ground-breaking beginning of a new era for policing and tourist security on the island.
The presence of national police commissioner General Seripisut Temiyavej indicates the importance of the day's activities.
The 170 million baht regional command HQ project at Mai Khao is just one of several changes that herald and highlight an increasing police presence all over the island.
Today the switchover will take place from the old Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint on the main road to a new one, beside the Mai Khao administration building.
But many more significant changes are on the way.
Better use of new technology, closer checks on visitors who arrive by sea, a new local police headquarters in Phuket City, possible new branch stations at Karon and Tha Chat Chai, a new Immigration HQ, and a new central office for the Tourist Police are also signs of improving security.
Change is coming fast. Before long, local police may even be wearing new uniforms, looser and cooler than the old figure-hugging ones, and in a new color, too.
A lot has happened since the middle of last year when the then incoming President of the Phuket Tourist Association, Maitree Narukatpichai, told Phuketwan that he was deeply concerned about security on the island.
A long-time island resident and the owner of the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, Khun Maitree told us he wanted, more than anything, was to make Phuket a safer, more secure destination.
His prime objective then: to find some more police, quickly.
The PTA represents more than 300 organizations, from restaurants to tour guides to souvenir shops and large resort brands. It exerts influence and devotes time and money to road shows and trade shows to encourage more visitors.
He told Phuketwan at the time: ''The police, we only have 1068 for all those people [Phuket's population of one million or more in high season].
''If you divide it, I don't think the police can handle it. We are lucky nothing serious happens in Phuket.
''Traffic and movement is around the clock. Three shifts . . . you're talking about 300-and-something per shift. A lot of VIPs visit. There's a lot of activity, so they have to use a lot of police.
''I am trying to give this issue priority.''
Local police leaders had no hesitation in agreeing that Phuket needed an extra 500 police. Perhaps change had already been sparked.
Whatever Khun Maitree told the authorities, it seems to have been effective.
Today, the first soil will be turned on the new regional police headquarters at Mai Khao. Region 8 Command HQ sits on 150 rai and is due for completion before 2009.
Next month, as Phuketwan has already reported in detail, the new, sophisticated 12 million baht Immigration HQ is due to open in Phuket City.
The new Superintendent of Phuket Immigration, Police Colonel Chanatpol Yongbunjerd, told us that he expects new technology will be employed more effectively to speed visa requests as well as in pursuit of transgressors.
Tourist Police are also expected to benefit from more widespread use of computer technology and the Immigration data base. They will also work more closely with Immigration in other ways.
At the same time, a new provincial police HQ is being built at a cost of 21 million baht in Yaowarat Road, Phuket City, just a hundred metres or so around the corner from the existing Phuket police station. It is due for completion in September 2008.
Soon, Phuketwan can also reveal, work will begin on a new Phuket headquarters for the Tourist Police, close to the new police HQ. The budget for the TP building, which will also be three storeys, is 15 million baht.
Tourist Police currently rent premises in the Bypass Road and will move to the new building in 2009 if building begins shortly, as planned.
The new building will be the official HQ for the new Chief of the island's Tourist Police, Police Major Sathabhorn Sangaunsuk, and his 18 staff officers.
Today's sod-turning may be the most significant gathering of senior police on the island in its recent history, marking as it does the beginning of the transfer of the Royal Thai Police Region 8 command headquarters from Surat Thani to Phuket.
Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit says the move reflects the policy of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok to establish Phuket as the center of tourism in Southern Thailand.
It will, says the governor, ''further cement the island's status as an international city.''
It will also ''ensure that we have an adequate police presence to provide safety and security for residents and tourists alike.''
Police Region 8 oversees officers in the provinces of Surat Thani, Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Ranong, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Chumphon.
Related article: Immigration HQ Will Be a 'Visa Heaven'
