Chief Justice Apichart
Thepnoo (center) brought together legal, law enforcement and immigration
officials in an effort to increase cooperation in cases involving
tourists.
Warunya Thongrod
The head of the Pattaya Provincial Court brought together legal,
law enforcement and immigration officials in an effort to increase
cooperation in cases involving tourists.
Chief Justice Apichart Thepnoo hosted the Sept. 25 meeting at the
Welcome World Beach Resort & Spa with more than 50 officials from the
Attorney General’s Office, local police stations, Pattaya Remand Prison,
probation officers, lawyers and the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s
Pattaya office.
“I believe that this kind of meeting is important since it is normal
that agencies would be faced with obstacles while working together,”
Apichart said. “Therefore, getting an opportunity to discuss and
troubleshoot problems is a good directive for future cooperation.”
He said the majority of coordination issues faced are by immigration and
tourist police in regards to tourist cases, including overstays, expired
visas or missing passports.
“These problems must be attacked case by case for justice and to
maintain the rights of tourists,’ Apichart said. “Plus there is also the
slow information transfer and requests for jail time that require
consideration. There are still certain agencies that we must have
detailed discussions with later until a conclusion can be reached with
each agency. In the future, there will be better guidelines for
coordination between agencies.”
