Actually,I've been thinking about this, if he is really serious,then tourists should get a toll free number direct to his office every time they are being scammed, get the ID of the police man involved and put him on the phone, DIRECT!!! then again,it would become the worlds largest call center...

If Chalerm is really going to do something, within month you will have Amnesty International, Human Right International and all the other bleeding heart liberals criticizing Thailand, just like they did the last time. In the West, criminals have more rights that honest people.

Only the Chineses are serious against crime. A couple of Chinese tourists are scammed, immediately the Chinese ambassador summon the Thai government and things start to move. In a recent incident we saw even the American marine surrender to the tuk-tuk mafia.

But on a personal level I don't really care. I've been living in Asia for the past 15 years, a bit more than half of it in Thailand. If you avoid the places where backpackers and sexpats like to congregate, the rest of Thailand is pretty safe. These people are mostly looking for drug and prostitution and like to associate with the low lifes, they get what they deserve.

If Chalerm is really going to do something, within month you will have Amnesty International, Human Right International and all the other bleeding heart liberals criticizing Thailand, just like they did the last time. In the West, criminals have more rights that honest people.

Only the Chineses are serious against crime. A couple of Chinese tourists are scammed, immediately the Chinese ambassador summon the Thai government and things start to move. In a recent incident we saw even the American marine surrender to the tuk-tuk mafia.

But on a personal level I don't really care. I've been living in Asia for the past 15 years, a bit more than half of it in Thailand. If you avoid the places where backpackers and sexpats like to congregate, the rest of Thailand is pretty safe. These people are mostly looking for drug and prostitution and like to associate with the low lifes, they get what they deserve.

Did the Australian women stabbed on Phuket get what she deserved?

If Chalerm is really going to do something, within month you will have Amnesty International, Human Right International and all the other bleeding heart liberals criticizing Thailand, just like they did the last time. In the West, criminals have more rights that honest people.

Only the Chineses are serious against crime. A couple of Chinese tourists are scammed, immediately the Chinese ambassador summon the Thai government and things start to move. In a recent incident we saw even the American marine surrender to the tuk-tuk mafia.

But on a personal level I don't really care. I've been living in Asia for the past 15 years, a bit more than half of it in Thailand. If you avoid the places where backpackers and sexpats like to congregate, the rest of Thailand is pretty safe. These people are mostly looking for drug and prostitution and like to associate with the low lifes, they get what they deserve.

I hope God gets back soon. It must be a burden doing your job and his at the same time. Good luck though.

If Chalerm is really going to do something, within month you will have Amnesty International, Human Right International and all the other bleeding heart liberals criticizing Thailand, just like they did the last time. In the West, criminals have more rights that honest people.

Only the Chineses are serious against crime. A couple of Chinese tourists are scammed, immediately the Chinese ambassador summon the Thai government and things start to move. In a recent incident we saw even the American marine surrender to the tuk-tuk mafia.

But on a personal level I don't really care. I've been living in Asia for the past 15 years, a bit more than half of it in Thailand. If you avoid the places where backpackers and sexpats like to congregate, the rest of Thailand is pretty safe. These people are mostly looking for drug and prostitution and like to associate with the low lifes, they get what they deserve.

Did the Australian women stabbed on Phuket get what she deserved?

Holy crap we agree with each other Have a nice day.

Jet Ski 'Incidents' at, Pattaya and Jomtien beaches, are numerous. The most common incidents are;

1) Jet ski extortion incidents. Always attended by a policeman that is there to ensure that the tourist pays for the 'alleged' damage to a Jet Ski and to collect his share of the extorted funds.

2) Accidents in which a tourist is injured in a Jet Ski incident. When the Police are often noticeable by their absence.

In Pattaya and Jomtien the provision of Jet Ski hire services has been provided the criminal element for many years. Pattaya's Mayor (Khun Itipon) is well aware of the problem and has attempted to improve the situation. The resulting division of our waterfront areas into GO and NO GO areas for mechanized vessels does seem to have reduced the number of Jet Ski accidents.

However the temptation to local Police to subsidize their cost of appointment or promotion from a share in Jet Ski extortion is alleged to continue unabated.

Let's be honest.

The scammers work hand in hand with law enforcement.

I reccomend every incoming flight get a briefing about the scams.

All hotels should have a notice too.

"something to read before your first walk outside the hotel"

#1 on the list. Do not use the taxie parked in front if our hotel.

They are criminals posing as taxi drivers that pay police to occupy the street in front of our hotel.

Always walk to a main road and flag down a moving taxi.

If they refuse the meter, keep looking.

Have a nice stay.

This sounds like happy news to me .

So from October 1 , I can visit Pattaya beach , and for the first time in my life I will try to rent a jetski , after all, there's nothing to worry about, .

Amazing how much comment this gets. No serious intention - or humor even - involved. Obviously intended for foreign consumption only (and if TV is any indication at all, Chalerm was quite successful). Don't worry, no mafiosi losing any sleep over it. It's simply a sort of follow-up on Yingluck's declaration of tourist growth projections. Over the next 90d you might see a round-up & parade of some sacrificial lambs, again for foreign consumption; that's about it.

Chalerm has a contract on his head, I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up dead somewhere in the not too distant future. At least it isn't Mexico, I remember a police chief being appointed and he claimed he would take down the cartels. Literally 6 hours later the guy was dead.

What a clown, the whole government uses the word vow not knowing what it means I suspect they mean WOW.

Miracle Year Amazing Thailand 2012

Some defamatory posts have been removed from view.

Phuket is rotten to the core with every level of so called law enforcement having their snout in the trough..the mayor included.50 Bangkok police down there for a week won't change a thing...50 Bangkok police down there for a month and they will be the ones that change!!

Let's be honest.

The scammers work hand in hand with law enforcement.

I reccomend every incoming flight get a briefing about the scams.

All hotels should have a notice too.

"something to read before your first walk outside the hotel"

All the good guidebooks list the major scams. But unfortunately a lot of tourists can't resist when they see a "good deal". As I said, they have only themselves to blame.

#1 on the list. Do not use the taxie parked in front if our hotel.

They are criminals posing as taxi drivers that pay police to occupy the street in front of our hotel.

Always walk to a main road and flag down a moving taxi.

If they refuse the meter, keep looking.

Have a nice stay.

If it's in the front of an hotel, it's usually the doorman who run the extortion racket, not the police.

But the advise remains good, walk a few meters and grab a taxi in the street.

An other good advise I found in this forum : Don't do in Thailand what you wouldn't do in your home country

If Chalerm is really going to do something, within month you will have Amnesty International, Human Right International and all the other bleeding heart liberals criticizing Thailand, just like they did the last time. In the West, criminals have more rights that honest people.

Only the Chineses are serious against crime. A couple of Chinese tourists are scammed, immediately the Chinese ambassador summon the Thai government and things start to move. In a recent incident we saw even the American marine surrender to the tuk-tuk mafia.

But on a personal level I don't really care. I've been living in Asia for the past 15 years, a bit more than half of it in Thailand. If you avoid the places where backpackers and sexpats like to congregate, the rest of Thailand is pretty safe. These people are mostly looking for drug and prostitution and like to associate with the low lifes, they get what they deserve.

Did the Australian women stabbed on Phuket get what she deserved?

Was this lady looking for drug or a prostitute ?

So what is the relation ?

I note that you ignore the other points of my post so I guess you agree with them. Ot at least couldn't find any argument against them.

Its good to have a dream though right?

I have wet dream every night, but its NOT good because i need to keep changing the bed sheets

You must not live in Thailand.

Why? if you live in Thailand and wet yourself, you do not change the bed sheets?

C'mon, let's give the man some credit. Of course we all know getting rid of tourist mafia cannot be done in 3 months and most likely not in 200 years. They are integral part of the system like the branch is part of the tree. The prevailing culture of privilege/patronage would have to change first and the corruption in police force and Thai politics would have to be eradicated next. That would also mean that Thailand stop being a feudal country that it is now, and there's a long long road ahead for that to happen. But, at least someone is acknowledging the problem and the acknowledgment of a problem IS the first step of solving it.

Give him some credit!??!! Are you at all familiar with who Chalerm is? Ever heard about the criminal exploits of his three sons? He uses his influence to get his own son off on murder charges ( the murder of a policeman to which there were dozens of witnesses) and you expect people to take him seriously when he says he's going to crack down on crime? Hello?

As for "The prevailing culture of privilege/patronage "; he is the very personification of it!

I must admit I have no idea who Chalerm is or if there is even a grain of good will in what he is pledging. He may be the most corrupt and double faced person in the country. But I have never heard any public figure acknowledging that there was a problem with mafia in the tourist business until now. And such public acknowledgement in itself is a good thing, no matter who said it and how impossible the task is. That was my point so pls don't get mad at me :-)

C'mon, let's give the man some credit. Of course we all know getting rid of tourist mafia cannot be done in 3 months and most likely not in 200 years. They are integral part of the system like the branch is part of the tree. The prevailing culture of privilege/patronage would have to change first and the corruption in police force and Thai politics would have to be eradicated next. That would also mean that Thailand stop being a feudal country that it is now, and there's a long long road ahead for that to happen. But, at least someone is acknowledging the problem and the acknowledgment of a problem IS the first step of solving it.

Give him some credit!??!! Are you at all familiar with who Chalerm is? Ever heard about the criminal exploits of his three sons? He uses his influence to get his own son off on murder charges ( the murder of a policeman to which there were dozens of witnesses) and you expect people to take him seriously when he says he's going to crack down on crime? Hello?

As for "The prevailing culture of privilege/patronage "; he is the very personification of it!

I must admit I have no idea who Chalerm is or if there is even a grain of good will in what he is pledging. He may be the most corrupt and double faced person in the country. But I have never heard any public figure acknowledging that there was a problem with mafia in the tourist business until now. And such public acknowledgement in itself is a good thing, no matter who said it and how impossible the task is. That was my point so pls don't get mad at me :-)

Of course the question you should be asking yourself is why you rarely hear prominent figures admitting knowledge of mafia involvement in tourism..

Pot........Kettle............Black........... This isn't the same massage parlour Chalerm is it? There's got to be quite a nice mafia element to run soapies.

Apologies if answered already as I'm only up to page 5.

I don't think that's him. Similar name, but definitely the father of the one of 2 wayward sons, the one of whom shot a cop in cold blood and walked. Now health minister and known as Mr Happy toilet, nice closely knit family. like flies on shit.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/562052-thailand-to-upgrade-from-squat-to-sit-down-toilets/

This will be deemed a success in one of two ways.

1. The local mafia will be told to behave for a period of 3 months after which there will be announcements at lavish junkets hosted by the taxpayer, saying, " see, problem solved. "

2. A visual effort with a few fall guys arrested, thus testifying success to the program.(not)

In either case a true result to his statement in the OP, based on a scale of 1 to 10.....Zero.!!

C'mon, let's give the man some credit. Of course we all know getting rid of tourist mafia cannot be done in 3 months and most likely not in 200 years. They are integral part of the system like the branch is part of the tree. The prevailing culture of privilege/patronage would have to change first and the corruption in police force and Thai politics would have to be eradicated next. That would also mean that Thailand stop being a feudal country that it is now, and there's a long long road ahead for that to happen. But, at least someone is acknowledging the problem and the acknowledgment of a problem IS the first step of solving it.

Give him some credit!??!! Are you at all familiar with who Chalerm is? Ever heard about the criminal exploits of his three sons? He uses his influence to get his own son off on murder charges ( the murder of a policeman to which there were dozens of witnesses) and you expect people to take him seriously when he says he's going to crack down on crime? Hello?

As for "The prevailing culture of privilege/patronage "; he is the very personification of it!

I must admit I have no idea who Chalerm is or if there is even a grain of good will in what he is pledging. He may be the most corrupt and double faced person in the country. But I have never heard any public figure acknowledging that there was a problem with mafia in the tourist business until now. And such public acknowledgement in itself is a good thing, no matter who said it and how impossible the task is. That was my point so pls don't get mad at me :-)

Of course the question you should be asking yourself is why you rarely hear prominent figures admitting knowledge of mafia involvement in tourism..

Of course I understand why. And it's not "rarely" but never. So, what's your take on why did we hear it this time?

Chalerm, ear medicine, honesty, truth, please stop, I'm laughing so hard my pacemaker might stop

Finally got to page 10 You couldn't make this stuff up Eh ? I thought the Brits, Yanks, and the Aussies had the market on comedy. Nah, Toyland takes the cake. Right here on Thai Visa

Likewise. Got to this post # 160 just as I took a mouthful of Victoria Bitter. Oh sheet. All over the keyboard...........................

Hello ......ello .......is this thing still working ?....???

Edit : failed...................

i can see he is serious, just look at that determined face

i can see he is serious, just look at that determined face

That's not how you spell "demented"

"Attending the one-hour meeting were the governors of Phuket, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Sukhothai, Tak and Kanchanaburi."

where was the Pattaya governors...???

Although Pattaya is a self-administrating municipality--the mayor of Pattaya is its chief executive--it is in Chonburi Province and does not have a separate govenor. However, the govenor of Chonburi was also not in attendance, so your point, if not your accuracy, was spot-on.

I wonder why Chonburi wasn't represented. lol

**sets iCalendar reminder: "Check Thai news in 90 days to see if it's now safe to rent a jet-ski"**

You know I just realized if I was Thai and could also understand English fluently I would really have a wounded soul from what i've read on most Topics and posts. This is the FIRST politician to even address the subject of corruption in the Tourist industry that you all have complained about so persistantly. Some of you can't speak Thai and don't even know who Chalerm is but its not enough to staple your mouth shut from hating on this admirable politician. France and England have colonized Laos,Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, etc and multinational Corporations have already colonized Thailand. Here comes the NWCO, hopefully with loads of NGO's.....

Chalerm

this admirable politician

thanks for that...

You know I just realized if I was Thai and could also understand English fluently I would really have a wounded soul from what i've read on most Topics and posts. This is the FIRST politician to even address the subject of corruption in the Tourist industry that you all have complained about so persistantly. Some of you can't speak Thai and don't even know who Chalerm is but its not enough to staple your mouth shut from hating on this admirable politician. France and England have colonized Laos,Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, etc and multinational Corporations have already colonized Thailand. Here comes the NWCO, hopefully with loads of NGO's.....

Could it be the PTP haters get their news from The Nation?

The FOX News of Thailand...only worse.

The Nation fawned over Deputy PM, Suthep.

You know I just realized if I was Thai and could also understand English fluently I would really have a wounded soul from what i've read on most Topics and posts. This is the FIRST politician to even address the subject of corruption in the Tourist industry that you all have complained about so persistantly. Some of you can't speak Thai and don't even know who Chalerm is but its not enough to staple your mouth shut from hating on this admirable politician. France and England have colonized Laos,Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, etc and multinational Corporations have already colonized Thailand. Here comes the NWCO, hopefully with loads of NGO's.....

Please explain the link with colonisation of the countries to which you refer and crime and corruption in the Thai tourism sector. As a historical footnote (for some balance) look what happened to those countries you referenced when France and England handed over power to the local nationals. Also for some clarity please name the MNC's that have colonised Thailand.

NGO's? don't make me laugh - an industry itself and much more likely to be aligned to colonisation.