Police in Thailand are training volunteers to help patrol the beaches in Phuket, amid concern over the impact on the country’s tourism industry of the brutal murder of three foreigners.
In the past month, a 27 -year-old Swedish woman was stabbed to death while sun bathing in Phuket, an American tourist was shot dead in Chiang Mai and a 24-year-old Indian tourist was stabbed to death while he tried to break up a fight during a party on Had Rin beach.
Thailand’s Tourist Police division says due to rapid growth in tourism numbers, with up to 18 million tourist visiting each year, means there is no longer enough police to patrol the beaches
The director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Southern Region Four, Suwalai Pinpradab, has told Radio Australia’s Connect Asia program there’s been an overwhelming response to calls from police for local residents for help in providing security in Phuket.
“Both the foreigners who live in Phuket, and also the local people, have volunteered to do this and the police will train them,” she said.
“They know the place very well – where is danger, where tourists can walk – they know the place and then they know how to protect, or to tackle someone.”
The Phuket Tourism Association has also been trying to have the number of police on the island increased.
Each year its members from local tourism businesses have been providing a million baht ($US32,000) to provincial police.
The Tourist Police Division is also planning to give tourists whistles to blow to attract attention if they believe they are in danger.
