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Phuket Gains New Police Commander, No. 9 in Eight Years
Monday, October 26, 2015
PHUKET: Police Commander Major General Pachara Boonyasit is moving from Phuket and his deputy, Major General Teerapon Tipjalern, will replace him in the role on the holiday island.
A total of 239 changes to senior positions in the Royal Thai Police were announced today, effective from Friday.
Major General Pachara's new role is as commander in Ratchaburi province.
He was in charge on Phuket for a year. The new commander will be Phuket's ninth commander in eight years.
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Comments
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It seems only a few weeks when the previous appointee promised to 'tackle crime'. Is there not enough crime in Phuket for him?
Seriously though, moving personnel around on such a regular basis means nobody is ever long enough in one place to be held accountable. They know each appointment is short term so they do not bother to make more than a nominal effort.
Posted by
Logic
on
October 26, 2015 20:37
Editor Comment:
The now-departing police commander had a good reputation and certainly ''tackled crime.'' Unless you have some knowledge of the topic and the capacity to strike comparisons, you wouldn't have a clue. You make yourself look foolish with comments based on ignorance and guesswork, not facts.
@Ed,
Logic has a fair point - there are still a myriad of offences that the police have not taken seriously that could have a big difference on the island, even such little things as enforcing the ban on large vehicles over Patong Hill at peak times, thereby reducing a lot of the traffic chaos that is seen there each day.
The fact that Bangla road has little or no police presence at night is a very poor situation, both for tourist safety and crime provention. The box at the beach end of Bangla road is just used to ticket people for not having motorcycle helmets during the day. An admirable contribution to road safety, possibly. I think most people would far rather those police were preventing crime in the evenings instead to be honest.
It is also true that the constant movement of those in charge do mean there is a lack of accountability.
Posted by
Discover Thainess
on
October 27, 2015 05:02
Editor Comment:
If that was Logic's point, he should have made it rather than saying: ''They know each appointment is short term so they do not bother to make more than a nominal effort.''
The departing commander changed the superintendents at eight stations and showed more signs than some of his predecessors that he was keen to fight crime.
The riot and the Saphan Hin shooting of the 15-year-old show Phuket's biggest problem is its troubled young. Violent crimes against tourists have been substantially reduced. The island's force remains well down on numbers and that's really what should change.
Fully agree the number of police is woefully low - the police commander should be lobbying hard to base the police resources on number of people on the island, not just registered population. A challenge the new man should take head on.
Again, fully agree on the issues of wayward youth - the gang culture that is becoming prevalent needs a strong and positive response from parents, teachers and police alike.
Posted by
Discover Thainess
on
October 27, 2015 07:16
You make yourself look foolish by repeatedly using the same rhetoric 'ignorance & guesswork'. Why cannot you accept there are intelligent educated people in your readership who are well read, travelled & knowledgeable? The media is not expert on everything.
I travel the length & breadth of Thailand (previously some 50 countries around the world in my job - oil & shipping). One major oil company I worked under had exactly this problem that the senior personnel knew they would be moved within every 2 years. That led to lethargy & lack of action.
'Discover Thainess' has made a very fair point that police presence is virtually non existent. I was in Chiang Mai for 2 weeks & saw police on only 2-3 occasions. Hardly high profile. The roads across the country (not just Phuket) are lethal & you hardly ever see a police vehicle until there has been an accident.
If the country is short of police then that is a serious issue for the government to address. Shuffling the pack achieves nothing. Time they bought a new expanded pack.
Posted by
Logic
on
October 27, 2015 07:33
Editor Comment:
Some of our readers are well travelled and knowledgeable and I would welcome them giving us all the benefit of their experience as appropriate rather than so often pretending to know something the rest of us don't.
We've dealt with all of the nine police commanders and have a reasonable grasp of what happens and why.
Had you framed your original comment in a manner that demonstrated your experience, perhaps we would have all appreciated what you had to say. Lethargy in an oil company doesn't equate to lethargy in a police force. Short terms can provoke energetic reactions.
As you will be aware, checkpoints on Thailand's major roads are about the best response an understaffed force can manage. Police would need to be visible all over the country and have a complete security camera network to be effective. Safer roads start with better driver education. Changes to the laws on drugs would also help.
The frequent changes are meant to reduce the potential for corruption. Unfortunately in Patong, it's the corruption payers who probably need reshuffling and spreading out.
Hi Ed, I was in the middle of a comment and somehow lost it. Could you please add the remainder to my comment or just leave the whole thing out... What I was trying to say in my comment was, at Surin there were jet skis being rented and operated among people swimming.
Posted by
Tim
on
October 27, 2015 09:07
In Nakhon Si Thammarat you see Police patrolling at night and there are also groups of armed volunteers who pull over young people and search them for drugs and weapons. These volunteers patrol in groups and are very vigilant. People here are very proud of their city compared to the fortune hunters that descend on Phuket.
Posted by
Arun Muruga
on
October 27, 2015 11:51
The one & only place I personally know that has a considerable & visible police presence is Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat).
They have routine checkpoints for drink driving most nights of the week ... BUT mix it up with checkpoints at the most unlikely of places to catch those who try to bypass the routine spots. Fortunately taxis & tuk tuks are fairly cheap, so a night out ends with safe & relaxed transportation home. I have seen both my taxi & tuk tuk drivers breathalysed on several occasions.
I am too old to frequent the hot spots in town where the youths gather, but family members here tell me the police are also a very visible presence at those venues, but that they enjoy good rapport with the youngsters.
So it can be achieved with the right financing & leadership.
Posted by
Logic
on
October 27, 2015 17:30
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