Phuket travel consortium casts doubt on local support for mafia crackdown
Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: A consortium of four major travel organizations yesterday publicly voiced their doubt that top local officials fully support the ongoing multi-agency crackdown to clean up rampant corruption and “mafia” operations in Phuket.

Top figures representing the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA), the Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, the Phuket Spa Association (SPA) and the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) called a press conference yesterday to voice their grievance.

“We want to announce that we support the Department of Special Investigation [DSI], the Ministry of Tourism and Sports [MOTS] and two Phuket Vice Governors in their efforts to clean up Phuket,” PTA President Pong Suwannakarn said.

The two vice governors receiving the public support were Sommai Prijasilpa and Chamroen Tipayapongtada.

“If Phuket officials, the Tourism Ministry and the DSI all work together, the problems in Phuket will be solved quickly,” PTA President Pong Suwannakarn said.

However, Mr Pong insinuated that some top officials in Phuket were not fully supportive of the cleanup campaign.

“The Phuket Government should respect the efforts by the DSI and MOTS because we think that the central government in Bangkok can solve the problems faster and easier if they have support from local officials,” he said.

Mr Pong alleged there was “some conflict” between the provincial government and the efforts of the DSI and MOTS.

However, he declined to clarify what the conflict was.

PTA Vice President Bhuritt Maswongsa then related a Chinese tale to the press.

“Once upon a time, there was a big house in China that had many different types of people as housemates. All of them were looked after by the house owner,” said Mr Bhuritt.

“But the garbage started piling up, and instead of taking out the trash, the house owner swept it under the carpet.

“One day, the housemates could not take the bad smell anymore, so they hired house cleaners from outside to clean the house. That made the house owner so angry that he refused to offer any help to the cleaners,” he said.

“The end,” Mr Bhuritt concluded.

“We want to support the DSI until their work is done. We believe the DSI, the MOTS and these two Phuket Vice Governors are genuinely working to help Phuket,” Mr Bhuritt said.

He also called for three “dreams” that he would like to see realized for Phuket: 1) improved transportation; 2) recognition by Bangkok of the true population of Phuket, and 3) the use of locally collected taxes to improve Phuket’s infrastructure.

“Please get a mass-transportation system up and running while getting rid of illegal taxis, and can the government please consider Phuket’s true population instead of the number of people registered as living here when it determines budget allocations.

“If they don’t know what to do, please just look at how many people are paying into the Social Security fund from Phuket,” he said.

Mr Bhuritt pointed out that local collection of taxes and public utility fees would better serve the island’s ever-growing needs for improved infrastructure.

“Taxes paid by branches of big department stores in Phuket should be collected locally, as should fees collected by electricity, telephone and water authorities. They should not be collected by head offices in Bangkok,” he said.

“If this money is collected in Phuket, it can be used to develop the island. A lot of money is spent on electricity, water, telephone and shopping. It should stay here in Phuket, not go to Bangkok,” Mr Bhuritt said.

“This is all we need from the DSI, MOTS and the Phuket Government. I hope the house owner will soon start cooperating well with the cleaners,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-travel-consortium-casts-doubt-on-local-support-for-mafia-crackdown-22577.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-10-23

I assume the house owners are the Governor of Phuket and the mayor of Patong plus his son (who runs the taxi mafia)

Are they all so stupid in this government? Sick.

Just say, every Taxi, has to install a taximeter. That's it.

And who is caught driving without using the taximeter is losing his licence and his taxi as well.

That would do.

That's why, I do not respect this culture anymore.

Amazing how the vice govs are mentioned as the good guys trying to help, but no mention of the gov or the local politicians as being helpful. Nice way to get around a frivilous defamation suit that surely would be brought on by the gov et al.

You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

The only things that talks in Phuket is money Why is everybody so surprised?!?

I think the most real part of the Chinese tale is how it ends: "The end".

Also I like the part where he talks about the money, that says, forget the so called mafia, give us the money first.

The root problem to this corruption is not being addressed.

Senior civil servants like the head of police and the governor have to bid in an auction for the plum prize of being assigned to Phuket.

To these people, this is an investment opportunity. They seek a good return on their investment and that's how they see it. The rest of us call it corruption.

It's no accident that so many of our police chiefs and governors retire at the end of their tenure in Phuket.

This is the way it is done and has always been done. These civil servants have no motivation to do anything serious about corruption, at least, not on their watch whilst they are recouping their investment.

>>These civil servants have no motivation to do anything serious about corruption, at least, not on their watch whilst they are recouping their investment.

From what I've heard, that investment is in the 8 figures.