Tourist Police to deploy TASERs, AI and drones nationwide

I doubt I’ll ever see an Asian person lying on the street, convulsing and thrashing around. It’ll probably be some big farang completely out of control and acting crazy, or someone who spends all day smoking weed.

Edited Sunday at 09:41 PM2 days by Jone500

3 hours ago, Bannoi said:

I wonder how many of them try it on themselves to see if it works.

Gotta be better than using the old "pitch fork" device used in the past.

If that’s for all of Thailand then little will change. They need more than 450 tasers for Phuket and Pattaya alone , although I guess Time will tell. They certainly need something to stop these brawls and drunk or drugged up people going mental in public places.

A mate of mine visited our local Tourist Police "office" just out of curiosity.

He said no one there spoke English. Now I know not all tourists speak English but surely...

5 hours ago, Bannoi said:

I wonder how many of them try it on themselves to see if it works.

That’s standard training for use in most forces so they know the effect it will have on people to help in judgement as to whether its warranted!

If Thailand wants to improve confidence in their status as a tourist destination, one thing that won't do that is for tourists to see FOREIGNERS in Thai uniforms carrying tasers or other weapons.

Or, put another way: hopefully carrying weapons will be limited to Thai members of the Tourist Police.

How many times, over the years, have we heard similar training/equipment upgrades etc, only see a few weeks later nothing changes...Phuket, especially Patong, are covered in CCTV cameras, suposibly increased police and police patrols etc...and yet, again, nothing changes.

4 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

I was a Tourist Police Volunteer for 9 years from 2011, first at Chiang Rai/Phayao then Khon Kaen.

They were very interesting and enjoyable days, no shock weapons or AI, actually serving Foreign and Thai travellers visiting tourist destinations and festivals. I resigned when the TP became militarised and a SWAT team established. This coincided with my retirement move from Thailand to Cambodia, which I have never regretted and regarded as one of my best actions!

Do you feel more welcome in Cambodia?

I often spend a month in Khmerland (am there at the moment), and they seem to be more universally friendly and welcoming towards barang/farang (of course, many friendly Thais, too, but far from universal) but I don't speak Khmer, and don't know what they say about us behind our backs.

Can't count the number of times I was called a farang khee nok, farang aheea, farang kuay.. in the LOS.

There is always the question of the appearance of smiles and friendliness, and the genuiness of it. The discrepancy of the two seems to be greater in Siam.

Wow i can just imagine it now at a traffic stop, pay me 1,000bht or ZAP 😱

I'm feeling much safer already.

Do I feel more welcome in Cambodia - very much so!

Being an elderly UK gent with mobility problems, I find the Khmer people have far more respect towards aged folk and will always offer me assistance. At my local supermarket, staff will always bring a trolley to my tuk-tuk so that I do not have to stagger around unaided. They will also unpack my trolley at the checkout and carry my bags back to the tuk-tuk. I never experienced this kind of help at Big C, Tesco-Lotus, MAKRO and other supermarkets during my time in Thailand. My Khmer landlord and his family are also very kind and will help me should the need arise.

11 hours ago, tai4de2 said:

If Thailand wants to improve confidence in their status as a tourist destination, one thing that won't do that is for tourists to see FOREIGNERS in Thai uniforms carrying tasers or other weapons.

Or, put another way: hopefully carrying weapons will be limited to Thai members of the Tourist Police.

I suspect that Thai law prohibits the foreign volunteers from carrying weapons. In a critical situation regular Thai police would likely be on the scene. But personally it wouldn't faze me to see foreign tourist police carrying a taser given the amount of drunken unruliness in the entertainment areas. Comes with the uniform.

7 hours ago, Caldera said:

I'm feeling much safer already.

'1155. Your 1st friend.' Seem to be moving away from this.

Shame if the real police want to go all paramilitary, but leave the Tourist Police out of it.