Pattaya faces crime crackdown

[Lite Beer]

Pattaya faces crime crackdown
THANAPAT KITJAKOSOL
THE SUNDAY NATION October 27, 2013 1:00 am

POLICE TO ADD OFFICERS IN BID TO LOWER VIOLENCE AND CRIME IN SEASIDE RESORT

PATTAYA: -- IN A MOVE to fight widespread crime, especially that which targets foreigners in Pattaya - the resort town which attracts more than 9 million tourists a year - the local administration says it has joined hands with police to launch a larger crime-busting force.

This follows an advocacy group's call for drastic action against exploitative crimes like child prostitution, which allegedly enjoys police protection and draws a significant number of foreigners to Pattaya.

Kanjanas Memanas, manager of Human Help Network Foundation Thailand, said sources had revealed child prostitution was so lucrative it is being conducted on ships anchored off the Pattaya coast in order to avoid police detection.

Meanwhile, sexual services involving adult prostitutes of both genders remain a tourist magnet. The easy money even attracts amateurs like office workers and government servants, in addition to career prostitutes based in Pattaya or neighbouring towns, who roam the beaches or wait for customers in busy areas such as Walking Street, Kanjanas said.

A negative rating recently by travel website CNNgo.com, which said Pattaya was one of seven places in Thailand that travellers should avoid due to frequent crimes, has prompted the Royal Thai Police to mobilise more officers to boost the Pattaya force's crime-busting capacity. The extra officers come from sections such as Highway Police, Marine Police, the Crime Suppression Division and Immigration Bureau, in addition to Tourism Police, who have long operated in Pattaya and Chon Buri province.

The new police taskforce will be led by deputy police commander Pol General Wuthi Liptapanlop and assisted by authorities in Bang Lamung district - where Pattaya is located - as well as a group of foreign civil patrolmen, Thai rescue workers and civilians from different charities.

Senior area commander Pol Maj-General Sanchai Chai-amphorn said Russians made up the largest group of victims, due mostly to their large numbers in the resort city. The second-largest victims of crime were Britons, followed by Italians.

The taskforce has been launched in preparation for a spike in the number of visitors over the high season, which kicks off in December, Sanchai said. He said violent and petty crimes averaged about 1,000 per month and that the total number should not exceed 9,000 by the year-end. He did not say how many crimes had been committed so far in 2013.

The largest number of incidents recorded have been committed by foreign tourists, including drunken brawls or rows allegedly stemming from tourists refusing to pay for services or products they purchase. Problems such as tourists being intimidated by local operators, such as the well-documented jet-ski scheme, have decreased thanks to police intervention and mediation.

Sanchai said the police were keeping an eye on short-term visitors, migrant workers, as well as people who dabble in prostitution.

Provincial Chon Buri police chief Pol Maj-General Khatcha Thatsart said insurance against property damage could help cut down on intimidation of tourists, though he admitted at least 30 snatch-and-run cases were reported daily. He said Chon Buri had a population of 1.3 million people, as well as an unspecified number of people based in Pattaya, while the Chon Buri police had a mere 2,700 officers.

Last year, 50,000 crimes were reported in theProvince, and 13,000 of these were in Pattaya.

Katcha said the extra police personnel and the mobilisation of the taskforce should reduce the number of the crimes in both Chon Buri and Pattaya this year.

Raids conducted between August 16 and 31 turned up 1,280 suspects and 40 handguns. Police are also working on several high-profile cases including the recent rape of two Russian women.http://www.youtube.com/watch?

-- The Nation 2013-10-27

[noikrit]

Is Police Harrasment for " Tea Money " a crime ???

[Shurup]

Oh god, with all this extra police force inflow, the crime WILL ramp up.

[Shurup]

Problems such as tourists being intimidated by local operators, such as the well-documented jet-ski scheme, have decreased thanks to police intervention and mediation.

Oh, a good one! It's surely because the tourists want to avoid the extra POLICE fee on top of the extorted amount that they choose NOT to report the incidents.

[Gsxrnz]

Extra BIB huh? I assume they're working on the theory that "it takes a thief to catch a thief".

[lovetotravel]

Jeez. What an article. Join hands with the same organization (police) that are protecting the crimes and profiting off them. Unreal.

They should do what the country of Georgia did several years ago. Fire every cop in the country. They did, had no police for several months, and crime actually went down.

[barryofthailand]

This has been going on the last eleven years I have been in Thailand, and probably longer than that. Only big talk, believe me nothing will change. Get the lady boys off the beach would be a start.

[Carl64]

So why don't they just DO IT! Rather than warn everyone.

[jko]

The sad thing about crackdown announcements is that they make most people crack up.

[connda]

Thai good;Foreigner bad. Crackdown will be successfully complete within 30 days.

[jbrain]

The largest number of incidents recorded have been committed by foreign tourists,

Those pesky farangs again , so expect that next tourists gonna be rounded up on beach road instead of ladyboys.

[Kerryd]

Welcome to Pattaya, the Hub of Crackdowns !

On a different note, seriously " Police are also working on several high-profile cases including the recent rape of two Russian women.http://www.youtube.com/watch" ?

Come on "The Nation" surely you have someone that can proof read stuff before it's published ? Makes me wonder if that video had a massive spike in "hits" after the story was published (or was that the plan) ?

[kiwiinasia]

Ah the main crackdown this week.

I was feeling lost as I hadn't seen one for nearly a week.

I watch these crackdowns with interest, its really great that Thailand has so many, just imagine what the country would be like without them.

They need a "Royal Thai Ministry for the Management of Crackdowns", that way we won't have these 7 day breaks in the crackdown schedule.

BTW... how many Ministry's are there in Thailand?

[Chang_paarp]

The largest number of incidents recorded have been committed by foreign tourists,

Those pesky farangs again , so expect that next tourists gonna be rounded up on beach road instead of ladyboys.

Think you are over reaching here.

To the authorities a "foreigner" includes Cambodians, Lao, Indians and anyone else who is not Thai. Given the number of illegal immigrants working in the Pattaya area in low paid jobs, there is a good chance they are indulging in various crimes due to their economic plight. There is a chance the statement has a ring of truth, but it is not necessarily falang that are the target of the impending crackdown.

[thaibeachlovers]

Not a single mention of the biggest problem in Pattaya, the jet ski thugs.

Only "prostitution" which is a soft target. Expect higher numbers of Beach Rd walkway "roundups" of the least powerful memebers of Thai society, while the jet ski thugs continue their scam unimpeded.

[jbrain]

The largest number of incidents recorded have been committed by foreign tourists,

Those pesky farangs again , so expect that next tourists gonna be rounded up on beach road instead of ladyboys.

Think you are over reaching here.

To the authorities a "foreigner" includes Cambodians, Lao, Indians and anyone else who is not Thai. Given the number of illegal immigrants working in the Pattaya area in low paid jobs, there is a good chance they are indulging in various crimes due to their economic plight. There is a chance the statement has a ring of truth, but it is not necessarily falang that are the target of the impending crackdown.

This will make it more clear then that I'm not overreacting.

including drunken brawls or rows allegedly stemming from tourists refusing to pay for services or products they purchase.

I think this exclude illegal immigrants working in Thailand, but it includes tourists that refuse to pay the rip off charges from the jetski mafia.

Problems such as tourists being intimidated by local operators, such as the well-documented jet-ski scheme, have decreased thanks to police intervention and mediation.

Yeah sure they have decreased as they now make the tourist the criminal. tourists refusing to pay for services

Edited October 27, 2013 by jbrain

[thaibeachlovers]

OOPS! I missed the reference to the jet ski scam in the OP. Apologies.

However, has it decreased?

[Barney R]

Ah the main crackdown this week.

I was feeling lost as I hadn't seen one for nearly a week.

I watch these crackdowns with interest, its really great that Thailand has so many, just imagine what the country would be like without them.

They need a "Royal Thai Ministry for the Management of Crackdowns", that way we won't have these 7 day breaks in the crackdown schedule.

BTW... how many Ministry's are there in Thailand?

I think there is even a Ministry For Funny Walks here also .

[drdoom6996]

Is Police Harrasment for " Tea Money " a crime ???

Obviously not, but you better have your helmet on when on a motorbike. One bust a month is all the police can afford, as they already know who the culprits are. They just pay money not to get caught. I often wonder if crime would go down if there were no police?

[jacko45k]

This has been going on the last eleven years I have been in Thailand, and probably longer than that. Only big talk, believe me nothing will change. Get the lady boys off the beach would be a start.

I thought just the other day, after again reading another report of a ladyboy drugging tourists and robbing them, that if the police simply removed them from beach rd and Walking St, crime would decrease. Mind you it would too if all the police were removed.

Listen up Thailand, if there is a bad smell you simply don't wave your arms and complain, clean up the shixt!

[thaibeachlovers]

This has been going on the last eleven years I have been in Thailand, and probably longer than that. Only big talk, believe me nothing will change. Get the lady boys off the beach would be a start.

I don't know about that. It made the walk back to my hotel at daybreak more interesting. I always won the race as I had the advantage of not wearing 10 inch heels,

[Jackson86]

Agree that jet ski thugs should be addressed as well.

[Baerboxer]

Is Police Harrasment for " Tea Money " a crime ???

No. If you're Thai its a tradition (confirmed by a government minister, who has a law doctorate and a police officer's commission no less). If you are are foreigner its a sort of protection tax to help offset the costs of all those crimes that involve foreigners that might need investigating - you know, they get drugged, robbed, scammed, beaten, stabbed and sometimes try to fly off balconies. All takes up valuable police time. The new proposed 500 baht entry fee contains a contribution towards this too.

[Lancelot]

Crime "Crack Downs" announcements. Who is not for less crime?

After my motorbike was stolen in East Pattaya last month, I have not been satisfied here and I have made my decision to vote with my feet

Actually I have been pondering a change of location, even before my bike was stolen. Pattaya has become congested, plagued with traffic jams and yes, more crime. Just crossing the street has become an ordeal at times.

Interesting how Pattaya has changed; my first visit was 2001 and I do not recall seeing any Russian tourists. Now, according to the artice, Russians make up the largest group of visitors or maybe it was crime victims.

Crime crack down sounds great but I'm not convinced of any substantive, positive change. Too much money to be made and hardly any down side risk for the criminals.

Chok Dee Krab!

[upena]

Is it that time of month already?

[Emdog]

Crackdowns are a crackup!

0+0 still equals 0, for the mathematically challenged....

[pablodiablo]

hope they dont lock up all the hookers? na to many empty back pockets for the to happen!

[cbluck58]

They need extra sales staff to unload all the ya ba and ya ice they have seized in the last month or so is all....

[wwex]

OOPS! I missed the reference to the jet ski scam in the OP. Apologies.

However, has it decreased?

not at all, the police have become a little more active tho and are usually at the scene to make sure it runs more smoothly and the victims pay without a fuss

[sexy man]

13000 crimes a year adds up to 250 grimes a week or 35 crimes a day what a load of rubbish