Thai Tourism Ministry to step up measures for tourist safety

[webfact]

Ministry of Tourism and Sports to step up measures for tourist safety

BANGKOK, 12 February 2016 (NNT) – Tourism and Sports Ministry undersecretary Pongphanu Sawetroon said World Economic Forum had ranked Thailand 130th on a list of 141 nations for safety and security at tourist attractions.

That prompted the ministry to hold a meeting with the Tourist Police and other agencies to set guidelines for establishing safety and security measures for tourists.

Two provinces namely Krabi and Chiang Mai will be pilot areas where the safety and security measures will be taken. The governor of each province will integrate efforts of all agencies to solve the problems about tourist safety within two months so that other provinces throughout the country will follow suit at a later date.

The authorities are expected to see Thailand rank up on the World Economic Forum chart within one year, given the stepped-up measures for tourist safety.


-- NNT 2016-02-12

[balo]

So what kind of "tourist safety" can we expect ? More police check points stopping foreigners and asking silly questions ?

[doremifasol]

" ........... solve the problems about tourist safety within two months."

That's it? Two month of coordinated efforts to solve the problem?

Why the problem is still there then?

[NongKhaiKid]

Wow, is the ministry actually saying their tourist paradise isn't really or will the minister be clarifying and explaining the ' actual ' situation anytime now ?

[Nigeone]

130 out of 141... And I bet there's no one in here surprised at those figures....plenty of people in Government will have to,open there eyes now though won't they or maybe it will just go the way of the all the other crack downs over the years. Actually you could make a big difference in two months as the scams and problems that cause confrontation are well known . They have just chose to ignore the complaints.. Starting in Chiang Mai how about just closing the rip off Karaoke bars for a start ! And enforcing the traffic laws..not just twice a month when the Mia nois need the money or the school fees are due

[shirtless]

They only talk as this is free, nothing will change until the last tourists leave

[craigt3365]

It's actually 132 out of 141 nations. Behind Kenya but above Honduras! LOL Health and Hygiene is 89th. Environmental sustainability is 116th. Pretty poor rankings.

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015/economy-rankings/#indicatorId=TTCI.A.02

[Prbkk]

Measures, strategies, crackdowns, plans, meetings, committees...all and more over a very long period of time. The reality does not change. As someone else posted, the evil Farang playing bridge were taken down while the thuggy jet ski scammers continued their nasty business, with impunity, a short distance away.

Clueless.

[arthurboy]

The laws, resources and - very importantly - the budgets are already in place, while a quick Google will reveal numerous campaigns that have been launched over the years.

So, once again, it doesn't take a great mind to understand that:

1) Law enforcement in Thailand is extremely bad, while sentences for jet ski fraud, common assault, traffic accidents, drunk driving etc. are lenient. Most offenders simply get on with their lives once they have 'settled' things with the police etc.

2) Official oversight is invariably selective and frequently tied into tea money collection, private 'business arrangements' and the 'protection' of the same vendors etc. they are supposed to be checking.

3) Budgets are an extra source of income for all concerned.

Given that concerns of this nature are already well known to the authorities, this report and the call to 'step up of measures' will simply be yet another opportunity to - cough - ask for and use budget.

However, there will be a pony and trap show when the 'campaign' is launched - costing budget - kerching - followed by the whole thing being quietly forgotten. This will then be repeated again in a few months time.

Situation normal.

[Khun Robert]

Krabi is the pilot province for Tourist Safety.

Well at the moment they are working hard to prevend accidents with Speedboats and Longtail boats.

The first new rules are:

Every Dive Center using a big boat must be registered with National Park and contribute 10.000 Thb for bouys.

Every Dive Center must have Basic First Aid trained people on board.

Every Dive Center must have all sfaff legally working with work permits.

Dive Centers are only allowed to Scuba Dive near Safety bouys who will be put in place in the near future.

But for Speedboats and Longtail boats things go on as usual. And if I look back at the accidents:

Speedboat on sight seeing trip sunk, Speedboat on sight seeing trip run over a longtail boat, longtailboat on sight seeing trip sunk

Speedboat on sight seeing trip run over 2 Scuba Divers who where using Safety Marker bouy.

I have been told we have to start somewhere, okay but why not start to educate and enforce Safety standards there where most accidents are happening, speedboats and longtai boats.

[Lupatria]

With hubris like this they may as well try to build a new cathedral in Kabul.

[Thian]

So what kind of "tourist safety" can we expect ? More police check points stopping foreigners and asking silly questions ?

They only ask me if i can speak thai....if i ask them if they can speak english they always let me go ...

Krabi needs taxi's with metres, many tourists get robbed (and scammed) by the bahtbuses.

[spidermike007]

It's actually 132 out of 141 nations. Behind Kenya but above Honduras! LOL Health and Hygiene is 89th. Environmental sustainability is 116th. Pretty poor rankings.

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015/economy-rankings/#indicatorId=TTCI.A.02

Yes, very poor indeed. Thailand has never paid attention to tourist safety. Neither have they ever paid attention to public safety, nor traffic safety. It has always been at the very bottom of the list. For this numskull to say they can accomplish this in two months shows just how out of touch he is, like every other member of this administration. Where would they even start?

Traffic safety- the second highest fatality rate in the world, right behind Libya. The police do not care. There is really nothing in the way of a highway patrol. They only arrive on the scene AFTER a terrible accident. No prevention whatsoever. No speeding tickets, no reckless driving citations, no foresight given to this huge problem.

Boat safety- how many people do we see harmed on and off of speedboats, probably the single biggest culprit. Ferry safety, and other areas need to be tightened up.

Recreational safety- we have all heard stories of the farengs who were recently killed on Samui, by the elephant. How about the zip lines, the bunny jumps, etc? They are barely regulated, as the government just does not care one iota.

Air safety - the authorities were recently given a wake up call when the international bodies cited Thailand for poor safety standards. A Nok Air plane nearly crashed into a hospital yesterday. Much needs to be done here.

Sidewalks - one could poke their eyes out with crap that is hanging everywhere, at eye level, one could sprain or break theie ankle with the poor quality of the sidewalks and curbs.

Highways- apparently due to the harebrained rice pledging scheme of NoLuck, there was no money left to spend on highway improvement. Consequently many important highways like the Highway 4, a main North-South artery were ignored for years, falling into dramatic disrepair. They are just now being fixed. For a country that portrays itself as beyond beyond third world, this kind of thing is a bit of a stretch.

Free zones- areas like Koh Samui, which are about as close to the wild, wold west as you can come. These are free zones, where the police are the least competent, the authorities the most indifferent, and the safety standards are the lowest in the land. Samui has the highest fatality rate in Thailand, for motorbike deaths, by far. The police and the authorities, be they local, state or federal, do NOTHING. Less than zero. They just do not care. The deaths continue daily. it is absolute egg on the face of the PM.

I could go on and on, all day. Safety is something the authorities just never even consider here. It is not anywhere near a priority.

I have been saying for years now, if positive change and improvement happens here, it will be due to outside pressure, embarrassment, and huge amounts of egg on the face of the nation. Here we see another example of that. It will NEVER happen because it is the right thing to do, or because of the proactive, or visionary actions of any of the Thai politicians. NEVER.

Lastly, the very fact that they group the ministry of tourism, with sports, shows how little regard they hold for tourists. Even though it brings in a fortune, and supports millions of people here, they still have that division running all sports in the nation. What a mistake. If they are serious about tourism, show it by establishing an independent ministry, that focuses on that alone. Come on guys. You can do better than this. A lot better.

Edited February 12, 2016 by spidermike007

[sn1per]

"The authorities are expected to see Thailand rank up on the World Economic Forum chart within one year, given the stepped-up measures for tourist safety."

This should take us up a place or two

http://www.samuitimes.com/samui-merchants-give-up-on-govt-repair-own-road/

[scorecard]

How has the situation with safety etc., ever got to the current situation, daily reports of deaths, boats overcrowded, boats sinking, 5 old men attached and robbed by a gang of young teenage boys, jet ski scams continue, taxi games, and lots more?

Thailand has all the various agencies who should be monitoring these things and ensuring regulations are in place to prevent these things.

But still we see just knee jerk reactions and very minor fines. And it happens again the next day and the next day ...

Why is there no definitive fix? Why are the police frightened of various mafia groups?

How come the police have not been reformed to stop police colluding in these things.

Until there is total and complete police reform (and other actions) nothing will change.

[arrowsdawdle]

Told them to do this ten years ago, now it is their idea.

[Laughing Gravy]

A couple of suggestions for the TAT to help with safety. Simple ones.

Fix the pavements in Tourist areas so they are not dangerous and are well maintained

Ensure that there is a proper 'earth' for the electricity in hotels and buildings (not always the case)

Fix the electricity, ensuring it is safe and not above ground.

That will keep them going for the next 30 years if they start tomorrow.

[joebrown]

Measures, strategies, crackdowns, plans, meetings, committees...all and more over a very long period of time. The reality does not change. As someone else posted, the evil Farang playing bridge were taken down while the thuggy jet ski scammers continued their nasty business, with impunity, a short distance away.

Clueless.

Nobody here is able to see the wood through the trees because they have their brains where the sun can't shine. Isn't the height of stupidity defined as doing the same thing over and again, and then expecting change and improvement.

A complete change of mindset is needed to make any improvements to tourist safety. Sadly, this will involve telling baht grabbing tourist service providers they aren't doing their jobs properly, but due to the inevitable loss of face, and corruption, it'll never happen.

As the number of Chinese tourists increases we are seeing the inevitable increase in their deaths and injuries. Hopefully, when the number of fatalities reaches crisis point the Chinese government will threaten to 'pull the plug' on Thailand. Maybe with such a real threat to it's economy/revenue Thailand might then convert all the hot air and bullshit into something that actually resembles customer care.

[phoenixdoglover]

In other news today, a scanner at an entrance to MBK beeped 5,981 times last Saturday, setting a new one-day record. Security officials have set their sights now on increasing the number of beeps, in line with expanding tourism at shopping centers throughout Thailand. Security spokesman, Somchai Watatiteshirt, encouraged visitors to carry backpacks and large handbags, and to walk quickly through scanners, so as to register a beep reliably.

[scorecard]

It's actually 132 out of 141 nations. Behind Kenya but above Honduras! LOL Health and Hygiene is 89th. Environmental sustainability is 116th. Pretty poor rankings.

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015/economy-rankings/#indicatorId=TTCI.A.02

Yes, very poor indeed. Thailand has never paid attention to tourist safety. Neither have they ever paid attention to public safety, nor traffic safety. It has always been at the very bottom of the list. For this numskull to say they can accomplish this in two months shows just how out of touch he is, like every other member of this administration. Where would they even start?

Traffic safety- the second highest fatality rate in the world, right behind Libya. The police do not care. There is really nothing in the way of a highway patrol. They only arrive on the scene AFTER a terrible accident. No prevention whatsoever. No speeding tickets, no reckless driving citations, no foresight given to this huge problem.

Boat safety- how many people do we see harmed on and off of speedboats, probably the single biggest culprit. Ferry safety, and other areas need to be tightened up.

Recreational safety- we have all heard stories of the farengs who were recently killed on Samui, by the elephant. How about the zip lines, the bunny jumps, etc? They are barely regulated, as the government just does not care one iota.

Air safety - the authorities were recently given a wake up call when the international bodies cited Thailand for poor safety standards. A Nok Air plane nearly crashed into a hospital yesterday. Much needs to be done here.

Sidewalks - one could poke their eyes out with crap that is hanging everywhere, at eye level, one could sprain or break theie ankle with the poor quality of the sidewalks and curbs.

Highways- apparently due to the harebrained rice pledging scheme of NoLuck, there was no money left to spend on highway improvement. Consequently many important highways like the Highway 4, a main North-South artery were ignored for years, falling into dramatic disrepair. They are just now being fixed. For a country that portrays itself as beyond beyond third world, this kind of thing is a bit of a stretch.

Free zones- areas like Koh Samui, which are about as close to the wild, wold west as you can come. These are free zones, where the police are the least competent, the authorities the most indifferent, and the safety standards are the lowest in the land. Samui has the highest fatality rate in Thailand, for motorbike deaths, by far. The police and the authorities, be they local, state or federal, do NOTHING. Less than zero. They just do not care. The deaths continue daily. it is absolute egg on the face of the PM.

I could go on and on, all day. Safety is something the authorities just never even consider here. It is not anywhere near a priority.

I have been saying for years now, if positive change and improvement happens here, it will be due to outside pressure, embarrassment, and huge amounts of egg on the face of the nation. Here we see another example of that. It will NEVER happen because it is the right thing to do, or because of the proactive, or visionary actions of any of the Thai politicians. NEVER.

Lastly, the very fact that they group the ministry of tourism, with sports, shows how little regard they hold for tourists. Even though it brings in a fortune, and supports millions of people here, they still have that division running all sports in the nation. What a mistake. If they are serious about tourism, show it by establishing an independent ministry, that focuses on that alone. Come on guys. You can do better than this. A lot better.

Further, why is the ministry of tourism leading this drive?

There would be no need for this 'drive' if the police and the various marine etc., etc., agencies were doing their job in a professional and proactive manner.

I've often wondered why many of these officials have not been sacked and in some cases not charged with dereliction of duty.

[spidermike007]

It's actually 132 out of 141 nations. Behind Kenya but above Honduras! LOL Health and Hygiene is 89th. Environmental sustainability is 116th. Pretty poor rankings.

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015/economy-rankings/#indicatorId=TTCI.A.02

Yes, very poor indeed. Thailand has never paid attention to tourist safety. Neither have they ever paid attention to public safety, nor traffic safety. It has always been at the very bottom of the list. For this numskull to say they can accomplish this in two months shows just how out of touch he is, like every other member of this administration. Where would they even start?

Traffic safety- the second highest fatality rate in the world, right behind Libya. The police do not care. There is really nothing in the way of a highway patrol. They only arrive on the scene AFTER a terrible accident. No prevention whatsoever. No speeding tickets, no reckless driving citations, no foresight given to this huge problem.

Boat safety- how many people do we see harmed on and off of speedboats, probably the single biggest culprit. Ferry safety, and other areas need to be tightened up.

Recreational safety- we have all heard stories of the farengs who were recently killed on Samui, by the elephant. How about the zip lines, the bunny jumps, etc? They are barely regulated, as the government just does not care one iota.

Air safety - the authorities were recently given a wake up call when the international bodies cited Thailand for poor safety standards. A Nok Air plane nearly crashed into a hospital yesterday. Much needs to be done here.

Sidewalks - one could poke their eyes out with crap that is hanging everywhere, at eye level, one could sprain or break theie ankle with the poor quality of the sidewalks and curbs.

Highways- apparently due to the harebrained rice pledging scheme of NoLuck, there was no money left to spend on highway improvement. Consequently many important highways like the Highway 4, a main North-South artery were ignored for years, falling into dramatic disrepair. They are just now being fixed. For a country that portrays itself as beyond beyond third world, this kind of thing is a bit of a stretch.

Free zones- areas like Koh Samui, which are about as close to the wild, wold west as you can come. These are free zones, where the police are the least competent, the authorities the most indifferent, and the safety standards are the lowest in the land. Samui has the highest fatality rate in Thailand, for motorbike deaths, by far. The police and the authorities, be they local, state or federal, do NOTHING. Less than zero. They just do not care. The deaths continue daily. it is absolute egg on the face of the PM.

I could go on and on, all day. Safety is something the authorities just never even consider here. It is not anywhere near a priority.

I have been saying for years now, if positive change and improvement happens here, it will be due to outside pressure, embarrassment, and huge amounts of egg on the face of the nation. Here we see another example of that. It will NEVER happen because it is the right thing to do, or because of the proactive, or visionary actions of any of the Thai politicians. NEVER.

Lastly, the very fact that they group the ministry of tourism, with sports, shows how little regard they hold for tourists. Even though it brings in a fortune, and supports millions of people here, they still have that division running all sports in the nation. What a mistake. If they are serious about tourism, show it by establishing an independent ministry, that focuses on that alone. Come on guys. You can do better than this. A lot better.

Further, why is the ministry of tourism leading this drive?

There would be no need for this 'drive' if the police and the various marine etc., etc., agencies were doing their job in a professional and proactive manner.

I've often wondered why many of these officials have not been sacked and in some cases not charged with dereliction of duty.

Because the bar is set so terribly low. Very little is expected of them. The performance of the government is so mediocre, that they are really not expected to accomplish much. So, you would have to be an absolute street bum, who avoided going to work for an extended period, to get sacked, it would seem.

As far as the police and the marine agencies doing their jobs? Imagine such a thing? Doing their jobs in a professional manner? That does not happen. Being proactive requires vision, foresight, intelligence, planning, and strategy. That is something you will not see from this government, nor any of it's agencies.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's the bottom of the list for tourism safety and security, where Thailand is keeping quite good company with a lot of other enviable tourist destinations:

I would imagine, the TAT folks are celebrating and quite jubilant that they barely beat out Pakistan and Nigeria in the latest ranking...

Edited February 12, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's Thailand's full set of rankings from this report. And, it appears that Thailand's tourist safety and security ranking is the LOWEST ranking the country received, relatives to all other countries measured, among all the various indicators measured. The next lowest ranking for Thailand was environmental sustainability at 116th.

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015/economies/#economy=THA

[whitemouse]

Just leave us alone, don't harrass us

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It appears, the WEF does these evaluations every other year lately, so I went back and looked at the prior reports for 2009, 2011, and 2013, in addition to the latest 2015 report.

Here's how Thailand fared:

Overall Travel and Tourism Competitiveness:

2009 -- 39 out of 133 countries -- score 4.4 out of a possible 7

2011 -- 41 out of 139 countries -- score 4.5 ...

2013 -- 43 out of 140 countries -- score 4.5

2015 -- 35 out of 141 countries -- score 4.3

Then the one sub-component of safety and security:

2009 -- 118 out of 133 countries -- score 3.9 out of a possible 7

2011 -- 94 out of 139 countries -- score 4.4 ...

2013 -- 87 out of 140 countries -- score 4.4

2015 -- 132 out of 141 countries -- score 3.8

The 132 ranking for Thailand among 141 countries in the 2015 report for safety and security was the lowest country ranking I could find for Thailand in any category for any of these report years.

Curiously, if you look at the detail in the 2015 report for Thailand under safety and security, it's an even lower sub-sub ranking for terrorism that brought the country's S&S rating down even lower than it had been. A consequence of the Erawan bombing last year??? The "terrorism" in the South has been going on for years, so I can't really see how that would have changed Thailand's ranking for 2015.

Edited February 12, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[jerojero]

And what exactly will they do? Assign an army bodyguard to each couple or family arriving for a vacation? Plenty of forced army recruits doing nothing except conscripted for 2 years!

[wowfactor10]

Plan of approach :

They will do some minor crackdown on something example crackdown on some sellers of fake goods in Thailand

,and then the problem is gone.

Thailand it is 100% safe again for tourists

[clockman]

The laws, resources and - very importantly - the budgets are already in place, while a quick Google will reveal numerous campaigns that have been launched over the years.

So, once again, it doesn't take a great mind to understand that:

1) Law enforcement in Thailand is extremely bad, while sentences for jet ski fraud, common assault, traffic accidents, drunk driving etc. are lenient. Most offenders simply get on with their lives once they have 'settled' things with the police etc.

2) Official oversight is invariably selective and frequently tied into tea money collection, private 'business arrangements' and the 'protection' of the same vendors etc. they are supposed to be checking.

3) Budgets are an extra source of income for all concerned.

Given that concerns of this nature are already well known to the authorities, this report and the call to 'step up of measures' will simply be yet another opportunity to - cough - ask for and use budget.

However, there will be a pony and trap show when the 'campaign' is launched - costing budget - kerching - followed by the whole thing being quietly forgotten. This will then be repeated again in a few months time.

Situation normal.

concise, and true.

[dageurreotype]

So what kind of "tourist safety" can we expect ? More police check points stopping foreigners and asking silly questions ?

They only ask me if i can speak thai....if i ask them if they can speak english they always let me go ...

Krabi needs taxi's with metres, many tourists get robbed (and scammed) by the bahtbuses.

Same on Phuket. A friend and I were waiting for a baht bus which would actually pick us up and not stop, allow us inside and then have the driver declare it a 'taxi'. Wonder if they have 'taxi licences' ..

[dageurreotype]

This is all to do with this 'banned' book http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/thailand/11228849/Thailand-most-dangerous-tourist-destination-claims-book.html