Top Cop: Phuket is car-theft capital of the South

Phuket's huge vehicle rental industry makes it a prime target for car thieves,

Lt Gen Rapeepat told the meeting. Photo: Warisa Temram

As head of the National Traffic Center at Royal Thai Police Headquarters in Bangkok,

Lt Gen Rapeepat is the Kingdom's top traffic policeman. Photo: Warisa Temram.

PHUKET: -- Thailand’s top traffic cop was in Phuket yesterday to brief top-ranking officers on the need to crack down on vehicle theft and the smuggling of luxury cars.

Assistant national police chief Rapeepat Palawong chaired a high-level meeting on the issue at Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters yesterday morning.

Lt Gen Rapeepat, who also serves as director of the National Traffic Center at Royal Thai Police Headquarters in Bangkok, told the assembled officers that vehicle theft rates in Police Region 8 were the highest in the Kingdom.

Worse, Phuket has the highest vehicle theft rate in Region 8, in large part due to the high numbers of vehicles that are rented out on the island annually, he said.

Reporting on the situation in Phuket, Col Aekawut Phonsaneh, who heads the investigation division at Phuket Provincial Police, said that in fiscal year 2011 there were 26 reports of stolen cars, with arrests in just five cases. As for motorcycle thefts, there were 95 cases with 57 arrests.

Progress in stopping car theft came with the arrest of 32-year-old Cherry Piwsa-ard, who turned herself in at Patong Police Station in July claiming that “God” had appeared to her in a dream and ordered her to surrender herself to authorities.

Her network was responsible for 14 stolen vehicles, all rented out locally and then sold in the three southern border provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

Phuket Provincial Court warrants were also outstanding for the alleged leaders of two other car theft networks operating in Phuket. Col Aekawut identified them as Thanawut Khunmeun and Miss Nonreuthai Klinnin, both of whom stole cars for resale in other provinces, he said.

Phuket roads were also home to large numbers of luxury vehicles smuggled in by owners seeking to avoid tax, he added.

In order to bring more smuggled vehicle owners to justice, Traffic Police need to pay special attention to the license plates and vehicle tax payment stickers on the windshields to ensure they match, he said.

Vehicle theft was a major problem throughout Thailand, especially in border provinces where vehicles were stripped down and their parts smuggled out of the country for sale in neighboring states, he said.

Motorcycle theft cases in Phuket typically involved youths trying to support drug habits, said Lt Gen Rapeepat.

According to Phuket Provincial Police statistics for October 1, 2010 through August 31, 2011, there were 61 reported motorbike thefts in Phuket, a 48.8 per cent increase over the same period in the year before.

However, the number of stolen cars was down slightly, about 5 per cent, over the same period.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article10938.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-09-08

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

It's good to be #1 in the region; continue to strive toward being #1 in the country.

A feeble attempt by the bib to draw attention away from other problems in Phuket, perhaps they could do something about the tuk tuk mafia ,oh wait, they are the tuk tuk mafia, what was I thinking.

It's good to be #1 in the region; continue to strive toward being #1 in the country.

Agree at 100%, I can not tell how proud I am to live in the #1 for the region ...........

At least it is something the local have succed in (sorry, got a bad week at work with my thai collegues, so I needed to vent a little, humor seeming to be the harmless way to do it)

Phuket-the car theft hub of Thailand

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

26 in one night would be low in Liverpool.......

If they want to crackdown on smuggled and gray market cars brought in to avoid tax, better look to their own police ranks first...

It is amazing how they can come up with stats like these yet no stats on tuk tuk and jet ski scams and assaults. Another Miracle

Wow! God Himself had to step in to give the cops a break in solving the problem.

Phuket-the car theft hub of Thailand

Move over Pattaya! According to recent reports of various crimes on that "fair island paradise' you are in danger of losing your title as "The-Crime-Hub-of Thailand".

Wow! God Himself had to step in to give the cops a break in solving the problem.

See. . The miracle Thailand promotion is working, even God has heard about it and is already started performing miracles in support of the campaign

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

26 in one night would be low in Liverpool.......

Lazy incorrect stereotypical nonsense

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8307749.stm

although this link is from 2009 it makes my point for me, at least don't rely on nonsense,

It`s probably the vehicle rental companies that are stealing their own cars and motorbikes as yet another way to scam the naive tourists.

The tourists sign a rental contract, agreeing to pay the full value if the vehicle is damaged, written off or stolen.

Once the second-hand rental vehicle is allegedly stolen, the tourist or the insurance company has to pay the company for the cost of a new vehicle, all done with the blessings of the police.

I bet that once everything has been settled and the tourist has departed Thailand, the phantom stolen vehicle will have mysteriously returned back with the rental company again.

Edited September 8, 201114 yr by Beetlejuice

Phuket and its surrounding southern region is a hub of corruption far more ingrained and more widespread than that found in other regions. Phuket is controlled by a small number of families, an oligarchy of greed and organized crime. Unlike other regions, there is not even an effort to enforce environmental protection and development laws and regulations. Phuket residents pay inflated prices in large part because the corruption is so extensive.

This region is a stronghold of the Democrats. Isn't that an interesting coincidence? During the Abhisit time in office, no significant efforts were made to curtail the corruption. In fact, it was during that period that the problems with the tuktuk mobsters, the illegal developers and the national park encroachers started its ascent to the heights now seen.

As such, when people refer to the corruption of the PTP, they would do well to take a long, hard look at the Democrats and understand that corruption was far more endemic and destructive under the Democrats in this region. One hears of the financing of the redshirts and all the other allegations, yet lost in that discussion is a recognition that the wealthy families and crime syndicates in the Phuket region spared no expense at ensuring that their political allies were protected.

Car-theft hub

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26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

Yes, but maybe not compared to population..

Maybe Phuket wants to be the "Car-Theft Hub" of southeast asia.

26 cars in a year, what a joke, In European capitals that is a daily rate.

26 cars in a year, what a joke, In European capitals that is a daily rate.

Are you really trying to compare Phuket to a European capital, lets just say as an example there are 3000 cars in Phuket, and 300,000 in a European city, and based on population etc, the the figures per capita on Phuket are not good.

Come on people, think before you post

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

26 in one night would be low in Liverpool.......

Lazy incorrect stereotypical nonsense

http://news.bbc.co.u...ews/8307749.stm

although this link is from 2009 it makes my point for me, at least don't rely on nonsense,

Obviously you are not a scouser, very apparant by the complete lack of a sense of humour....

We could of course rehash the old joke about Formula 1 racing recruiting pit crews from Liverpool as well...

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

What a blxxdy joke! 26? I'll bet it was a dam_n sight higher than that.

Don't they have some swell offices for the BIB in Phuket to have their 'high level meetings'

I suppose that all present will have been awarded another 'stripe' to add to the one's they have already got on their brave chests.

Another pile of BS, why don't they just get on with their 'real job'; Oh sorry that might offend some of the mafia eh!

The numbers of motor theft are tiny compared to the amount of theft from foriners visiting the area/country include ripoffs and it will be into the millions. but there again I guess a lots of visitors don't even bother to report theft.

"My son had a motorcycle stolen near Pattaya, we dint even bother to report it, as we know the police are way beyond useless".

The police in Thailand are seen a joke by foreigners and Thais alike, don't they (police) feel embraced walking around in their brown clown outfits? they should all wear plastic red noses to complete the "look" They should also perform at parties... # 1 trick - make the audiences money and valuables vanish.

The numbers of motor theft are tiny compared to the amount of theft from foriners visiting the area/country include ripoffs and it will be into the millions. but there again I guess a lots of visitors don't even bother to report theft.

"My son had a motorcycle stolen near Pattaya, we dint even bother to report it, as we know the police are way beyond useless".

The police in Thailand are seen a joke by foreigners and Thais alike, don't they (police) feel embraced walking around in their brown clown outfits? they should all wear plastic red noses to complete the "look" They should also perform at parties... # 1 trick - make the audiences money and valuables vanish.

If you didnt report it, how did you get a police report to claim the insurance ?....

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

26 in one night would be low in Liverpool.......

Lazy incorrect stereotypical nonsense

http://news.bbc.co.u...ews/8307749.stm

although this link is from 2009 it makes my point for me, at least don't rely on nonsense,

Obviously you are not a scouser, very apparant by the complete lack of a sense of humour....

We could of course rehash the old joke about Formula 1 racing recruiting pit crews from Liverpool as well...

yes I am a scouser actually, but is the person making the comment serious with his comment? the lack of smiley just leads me to believe he is not scouse and just deredging up the same old nonsense when the figures are not actually correct.

So its over to him now

26 in a year? That makes it a problem? Wow.

Ok, so we've established your car is fairly safe in Phuket. Can we now tackle actual problems like the tuk tuk mafia?

26 in a year? That makes it a problem? Wow.

Ok, so we've established your car is fairly safe in Phuket. Can we now tackle actual problems like the tuk tuk mafia?

I'd rather they dealt with the resorts dumping their raw sewage into the klongs and ocean. If the beach goers knew they were swimming with Frau Schmidt;'s turds and Olliie Svenson's pee, they might not be so quick to frolic in the ocean.

It`s probably the vehicle rental companies that are stealing their own cars and motorbikes as yet another way to scam the naive tourists.

No not probably, this is a common tactic. It's doubtful that these "thefts" are reported to police though.

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

26 in one night would be low in Liverpool.......

Lazy incorrect stereotypical nonsense

http://news.bbc.co.u...ews/8307749.stm

although this link is from 2009 it makes my point for me, at least don't rely on nonsense,

it was a tongue in cheek reference to the high levels of car crime in Liverpool

Liverpool chavs are a well known butt of jokes in the UK

you must be one to be so offended by the reference.............

26 cars stolen in 1 year .. i'd say thats low compared to english cities

26 in one night would be low in Liverpool.......

Lazy incorrect stereotypical nonsense

http://news.bbc.co.u...ews/8307749.stm

although this link is from 2009 it makes my point for me, at least don't rely on nonsense,

Obviously you are not a scouser, very apparant by the complete lack of a sense of humour....

We could of course rehash the old joke about Formula 1 racing recruiting pit crews from Liverpool as well...

yes I am a scouser actually, but is the person making the comment serious with his comment? the lack of smiley just leads me to believe he is not scouse and just deredging up the same old nonsense when the figures are not actually correct.

So its over to him now

in future Random, as you seem to be completely lacking any sense of humor then if i am having a larf then i will put a smiley after so you will know

maybe this will help you (i am having a larf at your expense, i thought i better explain the smiley as its the first time i used one)