Provincial police acknowledge problems, offer no resolutions
Pol. Lt. Col. Kiattisak
Srathongoil (left), Deputy Superintendent of Pattaya Police Crime
Suppression Division tours the beach with Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh,
choosing six spots for construction of new police boxes.
Warunya Thongrod
Newly re-elected Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome launched
his second term with a meeting with Pattaya police to resolve
long-running issues threatening the safety of city residents and
tourists.
The July 16 meeting with Region 2 deputy commander
Col. Pisit Proirungroj, acting Pattaya Police Superintendent Col.
Pantana Nutnarot and civil-defense volunteers reviewed problems
frequently encountered by tourists, such as conflicts over rental cars,
overcrowded baht buses, jet ski rip-offs, Beach Road prostitutes, and
traffic.
Itthiphol said city hall municipal officers divided
into three zones would oversee some safety-enforcement measures while
the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department had also zoned off the
city to handle emergencies. Other city security officers are now being
stationed at four points throughout Pattaya - Bali Hai Pier, Kraithing
Lai, Wong Amat and Pratamnak Hill - the mayor said.
Pantana said he planned to boost security by
increasing foot patrols along Pattaya Beach and Walking Street, using a
new 3-meter-tall watch tower. “One of the things we had received from
this measure was the increase in confidence among tourists touring
Pattaya regarding their safety,” he said.
On other issues, Pisit said authorities are still
mulling their options on how best to fix the many unresolved issues. He
agreed jet ski scammers are a priority, but he offered no definitive
plans to tackle them. He also tossed back to the city responsibility for
hassles regarding car rental booths and street peddlers. Finally, the
provincial police official claimed, Pattaya police were doing their best
to control problems with traffic.
Itthiphol countered that the city faces legal
obstacles to handling some of these problems alone. However, faced with
no visible further support from Region 2 police, he said the city would
continue studying the problems.
The mayor added that the city is upgrading its CCTV
camera system and trimming trees on Beach Road to give petty criminals
less cover. Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh has been placed in charge of
security issues, he said. The deputy mayor subsequently toured the
beach, choosing six spots for construction of new police boxes.
Pisit complained that he believed tourists don’t
appreciate how far police are going to protect their safety and urged
the mayor to work with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to increase
good publicity on their behalf.
