PHUKET: Tuk-tuk and taxi drivers will face police action if Patong's beach road is not cleared and functioning normally by the end of November, Region 8 Police Commander Major General Panya Mamen said yesterday.
He also said that Phuket police must stop supporting ''powerful people'' - the leaders of taxi and tuk-tuk ranks - and change their approach.
For years, tuk-tuks and cars and motorcycles for hire have taken out all the parking spaces in Patong's Taweewong Road, slowing traffic.
Major General Panya said it was his intention to clear the roads along Patong's beachfront and to have Phuket police establish a presence on the beaches.
''I want tourists to know that the law in enforced on Phuket,'' he told Phuketwan yesterday. ''I want them to know that police will be wherever they go.
''Officers will become a visible presence on the sand and we will have billboards that give the numbers 191 for police and 1155 for Tourist Police.''
The commander said he had told all Phuket police to stop supporting ''powerful people'' - including the taxi and tuk-tuk rank leaders.
''We will be doing our research on these people,'' he said. ''We will be checking their records, and they better not be carrying weapons, legal or illegal.
''We will be telling the subordinates that these people have no real power. We will be finding possible replacements for these people.
''We will be ending this sense of privilege that these people appear to enjoy.''
When asked if there was corruption in the force he said: ''It can be anyone who works for the government, but yes, that includes police.''
He said he could see that the taxi and tuk-tuk business provided jobs for drivers but added: ''That doesn't mean they can just do what they want.''
The commander said he would employ the same techniques he had used in Udonthani to undermine the local rank leaders and diminish their power.
He would do this with the help of a revived Phuket police force, he said.
''In the past, these taxi problems could have been settled by local police officers. They were not a big problem.
''These days, because the problems have been allowed to grow, it's up to commanders and superintendents to fix them.''
He said all of Phuket's police superintendents have been told to fix Phuket's problems.
''If you can't fix it, then you should be moved, you shouldn't stay where you are,'' he said he has told them.
His aim, he said, was to change attitudes and to liberate the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers so that they could pick up and set down passengers all over Phuket . . . ''wherever they want.''
He also said that Phuket police must stop supporting ''powerful people'' - the leaders of taxi and tuk-tuk ranks - and change their approach.
For years, tuk-tuks and cars and motorcycles for hire have taken out all the parking spaces in Patong's Taweewong Road, slowing traffic.
Major General Panya said it was his intention to clear the roads along Patong's beachfront and to have Phuket police establish a presence on the beaches.
''I want tourists to know that the law in enforced on Phuket,'' he told Phuketwan yesterday. ''I want them to know that police will be wherever they go.
''Officers will become a visible presence on the sand and we will have billboards that give the numbers 191 for police and 1155 for Tourist Police.''
The commander said he had told all Phuket police to stop supporting ''powerful people'' - including the taxi and tuk-tuk rank leaders.
''We will be doing our research on these people,'' he said. ''We will be checking their records, and they better not be carrying weapons, legal or illegal.
''We will be telling the subordinates that these people have no real power. We will be finding possible replacements for these people.
''We will be ending this sense of privilege that these people appear to enjoy.''
When asked if there was corruption in the force he said: ''It can be anyone who works for the government, but yes, that includes police.''
He said he could see that the taxi and tuk-tuk business provided jobs for drivers but added: ''That doesn't mean they can just do what they want.''
The commander said he would employ the same techniques he had used in Udonthani to undermine the local rank leaders and diminish their power.
He would do this with the help of a revived Phuket police force, he said.
''In the past, these taxi problems could have been settled by local police officers. They were not a big problem.
''These days, because the problems have been allowed to grow, it's up to commanders and superintendents to fix them.''
He said all of Phuket's police superintendents have been told to fix Phuket's problems.
''If you can't fix it, then you should be moved, you shouldn't stay where you are,'' he said he has told them.
His aim, he said, was to change attitudes and to liberate the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers so that they could pick up and set down passengers all over Phuket . . . ''wherever they want.''
" Phuket Police to Free Tuk-Tuk, Taxi Drivers From 'Powerful People "
Mmkey - and when those powerful people happen to be police officers, then what ?
''That doesn't mean they can just do what they want.''
Well, that's precisely how it's been for as long as I can remember (9y+).
''If you can't fix it, then you should be moved "
Uhm, so far those who attempted to solve this issue have been moved before they could fix it.
I sure hope history does not repeat itself.
Best of luck. At least you are willing to try for which you have my gratitude and respect.
Posted by ThaiMike on November 8, 2013 17:12