Tourist Police Chief Says Pattaya 'Completely Safe' From Terrorist Attack

[webfact]

Tourist Police chief says Pattaya 'completely safe' from terrorist attack

By Phasakorn Channgam

Pattaya, file photo. Source: wikimedia

PATTAYA: -- Pattaya Tourist Police seeking to blunt damage to tourism from foreign government warnings of a possible terrorist attack in Thailand are asserting the city is “completely safe” from attack.

Tourist Police superintendent Lt. Col. Arun Promphan said Jan. 17 there was “no reason to believe there will be any terrorism dangers in Thailand.” He said Pattaya was not named in any warnings, but a number of local tourists “panicked” after listening to what he called “one-sided material” from the foreign embassies.

Arun’s assertion comes after warnings issued by the United States and 16 other nations and the arrest of a Lebanese man linked to terrorist organization Hezbollah in Bangkok earlier this month. With Thai police now seeking a second terror suspect, the U.S. and other countries have maintained their warnings that their citizens exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok.

Echoing comments by top Thai government officials, Arun says that the U.S.’s refusal to drop its warning after the arrest of Atris Hussein Jan. 13 is damaging the country’s tourism industry.

Arun said tourist police nationally are trying to reassure tourists about safety by stringently checking groups of foreigners entering the country who raise suspicions that they may not be in the kingdom for vacation.

In Pattaya, he said, the tourist police are working with Chonburi provincial officers to patrol popular areas. Forty full-time officers, 170 police volunteers and 30 foreign police volunteers have been deployed.

“With this in mind, it can be affirmed that the threat of terrorist attacks in Pattaya is not something to be concerned or panicked about,” Arun said. “Pattaya City is completely safe from terrorist attacks.”

However, in case anyone suspects something is amiss, they can contact Pattaya Police at 1555, he said.

Source: http://www.pattayamail.com/localnews/tourist-police-chief-says-pattaya-completely-safe-from-terrorist-attack-9654

-- Pattaya Mail 2012-01-27

[pattayaorganic]

Oh Great. As soon as Thai Govt. says "It is safe", we all know that is a code word for "all terrorists, pls come to Pattaya to do your durty deeds."

[TheWalkingMan]

That article is like an invitation.

[spidermike007]

The police chief is concerned about "one sided material from foreign embassies". Amusing Thailand. No, we do not want to hear about any credible threats. No, we do not want to address the jet ski scams, the King Power scams, the corrupt policemen fleecing the tourists for throwing cigarette butts, or driving incorrectly, or who knows what else. No, we do not want to try to figure out a way to encourage our restaurant, and hotel operators to maintain reasonable pricing, so as to not price themselves out of the market, eventually. No, we do not want to figure out how to develop a responsible water management policy. No, we do not want to look within, at all. We only want positive press, worldwide, no matter how we run our country. This sort of foolishness demonstrates a continued level of naivety that may land Thailand in the spot of a country that once had a thriving tourist industry, but is nothing but a historical footnote, at some point in the not too distant future.

[atsiii]

"is “completely safe” from attack"

If generalities are generally wrong, what does that make of "absolutes?"

Edited January 27, 2012 by atsiii

[moe666]

heheeh I love to read the post about doom and gloom of Thai tourism and how it is on the verge of collaspe. This sort of thinking usually comes from people who no longer realize that western countries no longer are the domaninate tourist. The tourism numbers have shifted to China, India, Japan and other asian countries.

[ableguy]

Is anyone really interested in what any corrupt Thai official has to say ? outside of the amusement factor that is .

[monty1412]

I think he is spot on with his comments.... apparently terrorists scoping out places in Pattaya were fined 3000B for a cigarette butt throw down, then got scammed by jetski operators.. picked up by local police for a tea money shakedown, almost run over by the golden man cyclist ( twice) and then mistakenly invited LB's back to their room and the inevitable ensuing cat fight.

Most places they went they couldn't be understood as everything was in Russian, the gogo's they went into had women even fatter and uglier than the ones they have back home and then to top it off went to the look out above Pattaya and got bitten by the pack of dogs that have taken up residence there.

In a coded message back to HQ the terrorist claimed Pattaya should be taken off the list as its already hell there .

[thaikahuna]

Has this fool been smoking what he has been confiscating? If he REALLY believes that statement, he has no dam_n business being a top police official because he has no idea what he's talking about.

[atyclb]

Personally I'd put more creedence in the statement regarding Titanic being unsinkable.

[Carl64]

OH DEAR!

I AM scared now.

[FrankieDimes]

“Pattaya City is completely safe from terrorist attacks.” Why make an idiotic statement such as? You can not claim that any city in the world is completely safe. Why not say, "there is a low probability of a terrorist attack in Pattaya". All it takes is an idiot or two with handguns to open fire in a crowded place, such as a night-club/disco, mall or hotel to be considered a terrorist attack. The worlds most trained and financed security organizations can not prevent all occurences of terrorism from happening. So, to claim that a city is completely safe from terrorist attacks, shows a lack of understanding of what constitutes a terrorist attack. Lt. Col. Arun's statements highlight his ignorance concerning terrorism, methods used, and the people who carry out the terrorist act.

Some terrorist are homegrown and may already reside in Thailand/Pattaya.

Some terrorist act alone and may not communicate with anyone else.

All acts of terrorism can not be prevented, therefore disaster response teams should be training to deal with all types of disasters. Why didn't Lt. Col. Arun mention disaster preparedness?. Do pattaya have disaster preparedness and emergency response teams that are capable of dealing with mass casualties, explosives, different types of chemical and biological weapons (airborne)?

I would take more comfort if Lt. Col. Arun said, While the probability of a terrorist attack is low in Pattaya, I have security officers deployed throughout the city in a show of force and gathering intel, our disaster preparedness teams are looking over protocols/policies and are training and partaking in drills to ensure a proper response. With his statement of being completely safe, now that makes me worry!

[drdoom6996]

I guess this guy has a direct line to all the terrorist organizations, so the embassies can just call on him for their info now. In Pattaya the Tourist Police are worse than the Boys In Brown. It's embarressing to watch these falangs "Strut Their Stuff" every night.

[drdoom6996]

I think he is spot on with his comments.... apparently terrorists scoping out places in Pattaya were fined 3000B for a cigarette butt throw down, then got scammed by jetski operators.. picked up by local police for a tea money shakedown, almost run over by the golden man cyclist ( twice) and then mistakenly invited LB's back to their room and the inevitable ensuing cat fight.

Most places they went they couldn't be understood as everything was in Russian, the gogo's they went into had women even fatter and uglier than the ones they have back home and then to top it off went to the look out above Pattaya and got bitten by the pack of dogs that have taken up residence there.

In a coded message back to HQ the terrorist claimed Pattaya should be taken off the list as its already hell there .

Spot on

[drdoom6996]

That article is like an invitation.

Ain't it though!

[XAMPI]

Has this fool been smoking what he has been confiscating? If he REALLY believes that statement, he has no dam_n business being a top police official because he has no idea what he's talking about.

not all of it because a lot gets sold to the inmates in the cells at soi 9, and I wouldnt be surprised if the jetskis scammers are supplied as well

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I don't think Pattaya was particularly on the Hezbollah guys' radar...

But it's idiotic statements like the one made in the OP that remind us all how un-credible the police and other authorities are....

Tourism and money first... Safety and security, last.

[Jingthing]

“Pattaya City is completely safe from terrorist attacks.”

Expected but amusing idiocy.

[spidermike007]

I think he is spot on with his comments.... apparently terrorists scoping out places in Pattaya were fined 3000B for a cigarette butt throw down, then got scammed by jetski operators.. picked up by local police for a tea money shakedown, almost run over by the golden man cyclist ( twice) and then mistakenly invited LB's back to their room and the inevitable ensuing cat fight.

Most places they went they couldn't be understood as everything was in Russian, the gogo's they went into had women even fatter and uglier than the ones they have back home and then to top it off went to the look out above Pattaya and got bitten by the pack of dogs that have taken up residence there.

In a coded message back to HQ the terrorist claimed Pattaya should be taken off the list as its already hell there .

Thank you for that lovely humor. Appreciate it. Clever little bit.

[tragickingdom]

Only a complete lunatic would make a statement like this. Time to sack this police chief for talking nonsense. The police have to be lucky all the time a mad person only once. I really like to know which nutcase would claim that a city is completely safe for a terrorist attack and if he learned it on media training.

[blackthorn2005]

Clearly the Thai intelligence service is far superior to that of any country in the wprld

[DoctorG]

Nowhere in the world is "completely safe" What an idiotic statement.

[Pinair]

"is “completely safe” from attack"

If generalities are generally wrong, what does that make of "absolutes?"

It means, all got their tea money for this month. There's nothing to worry about.

[anterian]

I think he is suggesting that no terrorist wants to tangle with the Russian gangs there.

[sfbandung]

Terrorism is actually the last thing you need to worry about in Pattaya. There are so many other ways to get into trouble there, all named above.

[maprao]

heheeh I love to read the post about doom and gloom of Thai tourism and how it is on the verge of collaspe. This sort of thinking usually comes from people who no longer realize that western countries no longer are the domaninate tourist. The tourism numbers have shifted to China, India, Japan and other asian countries.

This is true and generally they head embassy warnings unlike Brits, Yanks and Aussies!

[antipodesant]

The old Thai "head in the sand" trick, until the

[Mrjlh]

Sure it is!

[Payboy]

Tourist Police Chief Says Pattaya 'Completely Safe' From Terrorist Attack

Unless you want to have another ASEAN meet there of course.

[thaimate]

Most of the terrorists are already here on R and R ,drinking ,whoring and generally having the good time they want to deny to the rest of their religion.