Plan for special area where tourists can party safely on Koh Tao

[webfact]

Plan for special area where tourists can party safely on Koh Tao
SUCHAT SRITAMA
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Designated entertainment and activity areas and a special management team will be implemented on Koh Tao, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said Monday.

The scheme, dubbed the "Koh Tao Model", is a response to the unsolved murder of two British backpackers on the island this month.

"The island has no areas for tourists to party or hold events, so this should help prevent underestimating the problem," she said.

Kobkarn said the Tourism and Sports Ministry was also considering applying the model to all resort islands in the Kingdom in a bid to make them safer for tourists.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Plan-for-special-area-where-tourists-can-party-saf-30244388.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-29

[mrtoad]

Is this an acceptance by the authorities that the place is unsafe?

Still should be a mass boycott of the place IMO

[slipperx]

Jeez. The locals are so bad there that a special area is needed to contain the foreign tourists .... Or the tourists are so bad they need to be penned in like sheep.

And Thailand thinks that tourists will be flocking here to be imprisoned?

What is needed is a police force that works and a Justice system that properly and swiftly punishes criminals. The whole system is a complete joke. If there were a mentality of proper policing and that criminals would be brought to task people would feel a lot safer. When police have their hands in every corrupt practice from drugs to jet skis and everyone knows it yet nothing is done, how can anyone have even the tiniest modicum of trust in the place. Thailand does not deserve tourists or investors - the way they are treated by the authorities is a disgrace.

[LuukKoeyKorat]

'Grand Events' to promote tourism...'Special Areas For Safe Partying'......the government kiddies in office up in BKK seem to have forgotten that there is still an unsolved double homicide on Koh Tao. Really sad and embarrassing

[angsta]

Seriously though. Who makes this stuff up? Are these people from planet earth?

Don't they have people working with/for them who can say things like 'this sounds <deleted>*king ridiculous do not state that publicly?' I mean, really?

These people are supposedly educated (in Thailand I know - but still). This is getting beyond a joke and they still haven't arrested the killers.

All these awful, stupid, embarrassing ideas because one family is more influential then the royal Thai police on a small, shitty island in the Gulf of Thailand. Jesus wept.

[Rooo]

Racist Post removed.

[Tham1]

Wow - so a murder free area. This is great you can head down in the rape free carriage on the train and be totally safe....oh wait what about the ferry is there a rape / murder free ferry?

[Songhua]

Wow - so a murder free area. This is great you can head down in the rape free carriage on the train and be totally safe....oh wait what about the ferry is there a rape / murder free ferry?

Not yet ... until a rape or murder occurs on one.

[transam]

They really don't have a clue do they. Do they not understand that folk fly half way round the world for something different, looking for paradise, the paradise that Thailand has. If holiday folk must be contained then they AIN'T coming here.

If LOS wants to be taken seriously then get out of the corruption stuff when dealing with farangs, take care of them because many a Thai relies on the farang cash flow.

Find the killers, most locals know who they are, lock them up, noooooooooooooooooo cash "stay out of prison stuff", THEN the world will take you seriously.

[Thormaturge]

"The island has no areas for tourists to party or hold events"

From the mouths of babes.

[evadgib]

The amount raised per month would amply cover Glastonbury type infrastructure if there weren't quite so many wearing these...

[webfact]

Koh Tao party zone plan amid security concerns
Suchat sritama
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- DESIGNATED entertainment and activity areas and a special management team will be implemented on Koh Tao, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said yesterday.

The scheme, dubbed the "Koh Tao Model", is a response to the unsolved murder of two British backpackers on the island this month.

"The island has no areas for tourists to party or hold events, so this should help prevent underestimating the problem," she said.

Kobkarn said the Tourism and Sports Ministry was also considering applying the model to all resort islands in a bid to make them safer for tourists.

In an effort to restore Koh Tao's island's image and tourists' confidence in the site, she said the government planned to run "mega events" there once the double-murder has been resolved. The Tourism Authority would soon be asked to begin preparations for events.

Kobkarn visited the island, located off Surat Thani, on Sunday on a fact-finding trip.

After meeting local administrators, she approved the establishment of a tourist police centre on the island. She also met with tourism operators and tourists to gauge their opinions on the situation.

Surat Thani Governor Chatpong Chatputi told the minister that Koh Tao needs more state officials working on the island and there was insufficient water for consumption. The island also faced an electricity issue because it used power from the private sector only, Chatpong said.

Meanwhile, the number of "prime" suspects in the killing of two Britons on the island has been cut to seven from a total of 20 people |not already ruled out, a police source said |yesterday. DNA samples of all 20 suspects have been collected and identified, the source said.

However, the source did not clarify whether the 20 samples were from the 50 male workers from Myanmar living some 600 metres from where the bodies were found on Chor Por Ror beach between 2am and 4am on September 15.

The seven unidentified men have been barred from leaving the island, as verification of their DNA is under way, the source added.

Police are still looking for a shirtless man who was captured on surveillance camera between 3.44am and 4.48am.

He was seen running, with a panicked look, and has since disappeared.

Pol Lt-General Panya Mamen, an area police commander, said it was possible all DNA samples collected from migrant workers would be verified by yesterday. He said police were also tracking three new male suspects who left Koh Toh on Sept 15 for Surat Thani and neighbouring provinces.

"There could be good news [about these three men] soon," he said.

Deputy national police chief Pol General Aek Angsananont said police were doing their best to investigate the double murders but, at this point, could not set a timeframe for the identification and possible arrest of the killers. "

The investigators need time to complete their work," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Koh-Tao-party-zone-plan-amid-security-concerns-30244417.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-30

[noitom]

"They need time to complete their work." A euphemism for alter any evidence and fix the coverup.

[noitom]

Very impressive group of party planners at that table. Tourists should be happy to flock to Thailand to put their lives in their hands. Any one can see that by this photo.

[sweatalot]

They should erect a monument to remind how tourismus and honor of Thailand was killed by the murderers and Thai police.

Forget "safe" areas.

Idiots

[OnTheRun]

An effin joke, a hairbrained idea akin to what we've sadly become used to.

I hope Ko Tao goes down the pan and the corrupt officials go with it, it wont happen though.

[FireMedic]

New and improved tourist safety area will have a big sign on the front: No BIB, No Mafia, and no Locals...you are safe to have a good time.

[IamNoone88]

2015: Thainess ....... and Special Safe Party Zone Year.

[Barin]

It reminds me of tourist reservations in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

They made those reservations to keep white people... In order to protect them, to enhance their safety on vacation.

Entrance to these areas by the local population is restricted. Otherwise they can not guarantee the safety of the tourists.

[wilcopops]

They haven't got a clue! "containment" is not the solution; do they really think that people want to party behind a wire fence?

[sz1a]

This is good and is a way to let tourists have fun without worries. Everyone knows Thailand is not safe, so it is better to make a play pen for the tourists rather than falsely saying they can go on partying as they please without a worry.

[upena]

Remember a couple years back when the Minister of Tourism and Sports designated areas as Tourist Safety Zones (Soi Cowboy, Khaosan, etc) and with greata fanfare and a lot of Thai Police and local politicians hung up "Safety Zone" banners. Nothing else was done.

[johnlandy]

The place IS unsafe. The Thai male wants to see how a farang female (especially blonde) looks or performs. They probably hear snippets or see photos in mags such as 'Playboy, Penthouse, FHM, Hustler etc' and they want a slice of the action.

This coupled with a corrupt, incompetent police exacerbates the problem.

BUT "This is Thailand' so people should be forewarned.

Still should be a mass boycott of the place IMO 'my sentiments exactly'

[Jimlove]

"The island has no areas for tourists to party or hold events"

From the mouths of babes.

Did they remove the bars and beaches ... ? Getting more and more weird but guess its the Thainess in full function - sorry if that hurt feelings with members that think we should accept everything since its Thai-coulture ...

[Suffinator]

Once again .... more interested in finding a way to keep the cash rolling in other than addressing the core issues. So glad I don't live in Thailand any more. I for one could no longer stomach supporting such a regime.

[sweatalot]

Try (at least this time) to do the right things and in the right order

1. arrest the murderers

2. sack the police

3. oust the mafia and the powerful families in koh tao (this location of utter disgrace does not deserve to be written in capital letters anymore)

4. special safe areas not necessary anymore

[robertthebruce]

I've heard it all now, rather than waste all that time , deciding which area to corner off, they should,be using all there resources to catch the Murderers...

And lets be realistic about the Party's and what goes on, all the youngsters are either pissed or high on drugs, do you think they will toddle down the Yellow Brick Road, for the Gated Party area ??? I dontt think so,

Waken up, catch the perpetrators , and stop being idiotic about this... It's not a. Fairy tale... Two people were brutally murdered , there families back home in Englsnd, are beside themselves.... Waken up.....

[jossthaifarang]

Is this an acceptance by the authorities that the place is unsafe?

Still should be a mass boycott of the place IMO

Is there any place in the world thats really "safe". There will always be sick people running around, sometimes maybe as human beings we need to just practise a little bit of common sense in what we do.

Please dont get me wrong its a terrible thing that has happened to these lovely people, i'm just saying maybe they should have thought twice about walking on the beach in the dark of night..

The world is a terrible place filled with terrible people. This could have happened anywhere.

[BestBitterPhuket]

Why is security so bad? Are the same policemen going to work there? Are the same local thugs and gangs going to operate like before?

If they manage to make safer and more "sterile", they may succeed in drawing chinese tourists, maybe package tourists.

[overherebc]

Billy Butlin would make a mint on this.