POLICE are to increase their presence in the crowd at the Vegetarian Festival tonight amid concerns that pickpockets have been extremely active this year.
The festival spirits are usually sent off from Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City at midnight tonight after an evening of fireworks that is probably one of the world's great unsung tourist attractions.
The streets of Phuket City will be packed with thousands of people, mostly dressed in white, enjoying the noisy and spectacular final moments of the nine-day purification festival - the perfect environment for pickpockets.
A Phuketwan staffer had his wallet taken from a sealed pocket at Jui Tui temple earlier in the week.
On reporting the theft at Phuket City police station on Sunday morning, police at the counter told the staffer that there had been many reports of stolen goods during the festival.
The pickpocketing incident was reported as a case of ''missing property'' rather than theft, although the staffer made the point several times that he was sure the wallet had been stolen.
When a Phuketwan reporter later checked on the numbers of thefts at this year's Vegetarian Festival, she was told thefts this year were no higher than last year.
On being told the circumstances, the Deputy Chief of Police in Phuket City, Police Lieutenant Colonel Boriboon Yusuksomboon said that more police would be on duty on Monday and Tuesday nights at the big city temples.
Others would go to the smaller temples. He also said he hoped some extra volunteers would be available.
Last year, bag slashings were also noted. Extra police wlll be on duty from 7pm to midnight.
The festival seemed to be even more popular than usual this year, with the number of photographers increasing to the point where officials may need to exercise more serious controls next year.
The international focus was again on the more sensational aspects of the festival.
One photographer even employed a ''crew'' to place a white sheet behind the more outlandish piercings of the mah song warriors at Jui Tui.
Every time he chose a subject he wished to photograph, the crowd of people moving in both directions down a narrow soi was forced to a halt.
The more sublime spiritual moments of the parades through the old part of Phuket City, where families sat and waited quietly for the mah song to pass were not found to be of such great photographic interest.
The festival spirits are usually sent off from Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City at midnight tonight after an evening of fireworks that is probably one of the world's great unsung tourist attractions.
The streets of Phuket City will be packed with thousands of people, mostly dressed in white, enjoying the noisy and spectacular final moments of the nine-day purification festival - the perfect environment for pickpockets.
A Phuketwan staffer had his wallet taken from a sealed pocket at Jui Tui temple earlier in the week.
On reporting the theft at Phuket City police station on Sunday morning, police at the counter told the staffer that there had been many reports of stolen goods during the festival.
The pickpocketing incident was reported as a case of ''missing property'' rather than theft, although the staffer made the point several times that he was sure the wallet had been stolen.
When a Phuketwan reporter later checked on the numbers of thefts at this year's Vegetarian Festival, she was told thefts this year were no higher than last year.
On being told the circumstances, the Deputy Chief of Police in Phuket City, Police Lieutenant Colonel Boriboon Yusuksomboon said that more police would be on duty on Monday and Tuesday nights at the big city temples.
Others would go to the smaller temples. He also said he hoped some extra volunteers would be available.
Last year, bag slashings were also noted. Extra police wlll be on duty from 7pm to midnight.
The festival seemed to be even more popular than usual this year, with the number of photographers increasing to the point where officials may need to exercise more serious controls next year.
The international focus was again on the more sensational aspects of the festival.
One photographer even employed a ''crew'' to place a white sheet behind the more outlandish piercings of the mah song warriors at Jui Tui.
Every time he chose a subject he wished to photograph, the crowd of people moving in both directions down a narrow soi was forced to a halt.
The more sublime spiritual moments of the parades through the old part of Phuket City, where families sat and waited quietly for the mah song to pass were not found to be of such great photographic interest.
