Theerarak Suthathiwong
He’s had chances to travel and earn more money, but Smith
Promthong says that not only is Pattaya the only place he wants to be,
helping victims of marine accidents is the only thing he wants to do.
Smith Promthong has been working with the Pattaya Marine
Rescue Unit since its inception.
“Some friends once asked me to manage a resort in
Prachuab Kirikhan for 10,000 baht a month, but I refused because sea and
rescue was in my blood,” said the 40-year-old boat captain with the Pattaya
Marine Rescue Unit. “Once there was a shipwreck at the old Pattaya pier and
several tourists were in the water and needed rescue. The rescue team and I
went to assist them and I felt so proud afterward. This is the work I want
to do until I retire.”
He was raised on the sea and began working as a boat boy
at a very young age. Smith said he taught himself how to pilot boats large
and small and was offered a job in Phuket as a captain. But he felt homesick
after a while and returned to Pattaya where he worked as a motorcycle taxi
driver.
Smith said, “I have always wanted to help people in
trouble, so in 1996, I signed up as a volunteer with the Sawang Boriboon
Thamasathan Foundation, which is well known as a charitable organization
that helps accident victims and people in distress.”
It’s been nearly 15 years since Smith joined the Marine
Rescue Unit, but he was, in fact, aiding marine-accident victims even before
the city department was established in 1996.
Pattaya’s efforts to offer marine rescue began about 20
years ago under the auspices of the Naklua Sanitation Department with just
one rubber boat. Volunteers like Smith, using their own vessels, tried to
fill in the gaps.
Today, the Pattaya Marine Rescue Unit operates four
stations from Naklua to Jomtien Beach and boasts a full-time staff of 50
rescuers and 26 boats, rubber zodiacs, jet skis and other watercraft.
Marine protection officer Chief Petty Officer 1st Class
Chaichet Sartsakhon said, “The rescue unit trains regularly with police and
fire departments and runs the Pattaya Information Center for Marine Control.
The city has staffed the department with modern communications and marine
equipment aimed at providing the best possible search and rescue
capabilities.”
The heart of the unit, however, is the staff. Smith says,
“I earn only 8,200 baht a month, but I get my accommodations provided at the
rescue unit’s headquarters. I also maintain my own house, in town.”
Joining the city force wasn’t easy, however. Smith said
he had to train vigorously to get in shape, running along the beach with a
heavy rubber boat on his back. He also took sea rescue and first aid
courses.
“Now,” he said, “even if accidents happen when I am off
work, I am still ready to assist, 24 hours a day.”
“We really want Thai residents and foreign visitors to trust the Marine
Rescue Unit,” Chaichet agreed. “Even though most people don’t expect to have
a marine accident, we’re ready to provide assistance if it happens.”
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Even after failing the entrance exam to the Royal Police
Cadet Academy, Arun Prompan never gave up his dream of becoming a police
officer. It ended up taking 17 years, but the now-Pol. Maj. Arun not only
succeeded, but became chief of the Pattaya-region Tourist Police.
Pol. Maj. Arun Prompan.
The key for the 44-year-old Nong Khai native was to leave
Thailand for an overseas education. After being rejected by the police academy
in Nakhon Pathom upon graduating from Assumption Sriracha School at 15, he
embarked on a seven-year journey to the United Kingdom where he completed high
school at Millfield School in Somerset, London before graduating with a business
management degree from The American College in the same city.
In 1988 Arun graduated with a Masters Degree in International
Business Management from Schiller International University in the U.K.
“I decided to study abroad, but still wanted to be a
policeman with the intention of using my knowledge to provide service to the
people,” he said. But his goal would have to wait.
Upon returning to Thailand in 1988 Arun joined the Ministry
of Commerce, but left the government for the private sector just four years
later. When the Asian economic crisis hit in 1997, the time was right, he said,
for a change.
Arun attended a course for non-commissioned police officers
with a university degree at the same academy where he was turned away 16 years
earlier. “At that time there was a lack of efficient police officers in the
administration, the technical sector and in foreign affairs,” he said.
A year later Arun became the deputy inspector in the Economic
Litigation Investigation Division. At the same time he earned himself a law
degree from Sripathum University and took a professional investigation training
program and inspector’s course.
Working most of his new career at the Central Investigative
Bureau, Pol. Col. Arun eventually was appointed as commander of the Tourist
Police Division in Pattaya.
Arun said the first thing he did when he took over a month
ago was to try to improve communication and teamwork among the Tourist Police
officers and volunteers. He stressed a unit-management philosophy that makes
officers and unpaid staff “brothers” working together for the benefit of the
public.
“The Pattaya Tourist Police have only 44 officers, but must
respond to calls in two provinces: Chonburi and Chachoengsao,” Pol. Maj. Arun
explained. “I think that’s not enough to provide adequate security for
tourists.”
Therefore, Thai Tourist Police officials have agreed to
recruit 100 new volunteers with the requirement that Thai officers have basic
English skills.
“The most important thing is to create a good impression for
tourists, eliminate gangs of criminals and annoyances for tourists in Pattaya,”
he said. “Creating an image of good security requires cooperation from local
residents to develop the tourist industry and generate income for people in the
community as well.”
Arun is happily married to Bunyapat Prompan and is the father of a
12-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy.
