PHUKET: Corruption may have been down the list when Phuket's honorary consuls met the governor yesterday but it's plain that once the Phuket beaches are clean and the Phuket taxi meters are ticking fairly, graft and bribery will soar to first spot.
Phuket's Governor Maitree Intrusud made that obvious yesterday when he urged the journalists present - the two reporters from Phuketwan - to note the following words:
No. 4 Corruption Elimination
1. In case of bribery or corruption witnessed, please collect all the information - the situation, date, people documents and report directly to the Governor.
2. May we assure you that we are working to solve the malpractice here in Phuket, especially the cases concerning tourists and foreigners.
Today the words of Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha are all over the media. He says that combating corruption is the key policy of the government and the military regime - even though the issue is not one of the 11 fields earmarked for national reform.
Years ago, Phuketwan called on the Government of Thailand to make Phuket a role model for the rest of Thailand by wiping out corruption on the island, Thailand's most prosperous and most international province.
At the time, we were voices in the wilderness. Our appeals for protecting the beaches and for reforming the taxis and tuk-tuks also seemed to go unheeded, too.
Now, it must be said, with the island's top administrators and the Prime Minister saying that corruption must go, we believe the future of Phuket and of Thailand has never been brighter.
And we're delighted to be able to say that Phuketwan was there to hear it, and to report it.
Phuket's Governor Maitree Intrusud made that obvious yesterday when he urged the journalists present - the two reporters from Phuketwan - to note the following words:
No. 4 Corruption Elimination
1. In case of bribery or corruption witnessed, please collect all the information - the situation, date, people documents and report directly to the Governor.
2. May we assure you that we are working to solve the malpractice here in Phuket, especially the cases concerning tourists and foreigners.
Today the words of Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha are all over the media. He says that combating corruption is the key policy of the government and the military regime - even though the issue is not one of the 11 fields earmarked for national reform.
Years ago, Phuketwan called on the Government of Thailand to make Phuket a role model for the rest of Thailand by wiping out corruption on the island, Thailand's most prosperous and most international province.
At the time, we were voices in the wilderness. Our appeals for protecting the beaches and for reforming the taxis and tuk-tuks also seemed to go unheeded, too.
Now, it must be said, with the island's top administrators and the Prime Minister saying that corruption must go, we believe the future of Phuket and of Thailand has never been brighter.
And we're delighted to be able to say that Phuketwan was there to hear it, and to report it.
Why not put a few 'ghosts' through Immigration at the airport to clear up and report any 'mis-understandings' about the fast tracking system we have been experiencing lately. Yes, I hate to say it but I contributed to corruption last week by paying my B100 fast track toll. It was either that or stop in one of the interminable queues.
Unfortunately I can't present my evidence to the Governor as no receipt was forthcoming for either that or the inoperative taxi meter once exiting the airport.
To be honest though an above board fast track lane would be welcomed, so long as it was in tandem with a fully operating normal system.
Posted by Mister Ree on September 16, 2014 08:50