PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitree Intrusud and his wife went looking for wildlife in Patong's Soi Bangla about 9pm last night.
The Governor's wife, Wipanee, is Permanent Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, based in Bangkok.
It is believed the couple were checking to see whether protected slow lorises were still being abused in the tourist walking street, as pop star Rihanna discovered when she posted a photo on Instagram last month.
Strangely, the photo touts were nowhere to be found. Yet Phuketwan contacts in Patong insist that the slow lorises are still there most nights, along with iguanas and gibbons.
Also missing last night were touts for the sex shows of the kind that Rihanna sampled that are said by some to have since disappeared.
But other Bangla regulars say the shows are still operating.
Earlier in the evening, the new Region 8 Police Commander, Major General Panya Mamen, reassured officers and the media on a visit to Soi Bangla that there was no ''mafia'' in Patong.
Phuketwan suspects he was referring to the prime definition of the word, as in ''the Mafia.''
Major General Panya also found no slow lorises or sex show touts.
The major general, now in charge of all police in Thailand's south, was on a fleeting visit to Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket.
He visited Karon Police Station, which has a staff of 30 officers, and Kathu Police Station, where 70 officers oversee Patong.
More police can be expected on Phuket soon, Major General Panya said.
The Governor's wife, Wipanee, is Permanent Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, based in Bangkok.
It is believed the couple were checking to see whether protected slow lorises were still being abused in the tourist walking street, as pop star Rihanna discovered when she posted a photo on Instagram last month.
Strangely, the photo touts were nowhere to be found. Yet Phuketwan contacts in Patong insist that the slow lorises are still there most nights, along with iguanas and gibbons.
Also missing last night were touts for the sex shows of the kind that Rihanna sampled that are said by some to have since disappeared.
But other Bangla regulars say the shows are still operating.
Earlier in the evening, the new Region 8 Police Commander, Major General Panya Mamen, reassured officers and the media on a visit to Soi Bangla that there was no ''mafia'' in Patong.
Phuketwan suspects he was referring to the prime definition of the word, as in ''the Mafia.''
Major General Panya also found no slow lorises or sex show touts.
The major general, now in charge of all police in Thailand's south, was on a fleeting visit to Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket.
He visited Karon Police Station, which has a staff of 30 officers, and Kathu Police Station, where 70 officers oversee Patong.
More police can be expected on Phuket soon, Major General Panya said.
So, it seems all the problems have been cleaned up, then. Excellent work, gentlemen.
Posted by phonus balonus on October 28, 2013 07:02