It has taken foreign clout to force action

It has taken foreign clout to force action

'Your attention, please. The plane will descend to Phuket International Airport shortly. All passengers please remain seated and fasten your seat belts until the aircraft comes to a complete stop. All passengers please fill out an immigration form and proceed to the immigration counter upon arrival. For those who are visiting Phuket for the first time as a tourist, we strongly recommend that you read a statement by the EU ambassadors in Bangkok in the seat pocket right in front of you before you go into the arrival hall.''

All planes flying to the resort island should put a copy of that statement, dated June 20, 2013, in seat pockets for the benefit of tourists. It goes right to the point of the problems that are plaguing Phuket. Here is the exact wording of the problems that the ambassadors or representatives of 18 members of the European Union want to see attended to or wiped out.

An efficient and fairly priced public transport system in Phuket which is available to foreign tourists and residents alike.

An end to intimidatory and violent behaviour by an element of tuk tuk and taxi drivers.

Strict enforcement of marine safety standards, including flags on beaches to indicate when it is safe to swim.

Strict enforcement of standards of behaviour for public officials, including police and immigration, to ensure that foreign visitors and residents feel protected, treated in a fair way and never at risk of extortion.

An end to scams involving the hiring of equipment such as jet skis or motorbikes.

Strict enforcement of road safety regulations.

Promotion of environmental issues, including monitoring of water quality.

The only word to best describe Thailand after seeing this statement should be ''embarrassed''. But the country _ tourism and Phuket authorities in particular _ should not get upset or angry about it. The ambassadors were only doing their job to protect their citizens.

It was embarrassing for those authorities in Phuket to see the diplomats head south from Bangkok on June 14 and 15 to pinpoint what they diplomatically described in the statement as things they are ''keen'' to look at.

The trip was followed by another one by Jonathan Kenna, deputy head of mission at the Australian embassy, on Tuesday to call for better safety and better transport from the airport to town for Australian tourists.

All problems identified by them are nothing new and have been dragging on for years on the island with no serious attempts by the authorities to tackle them. That is the reason why many tourists, Thais included, feel they have had enough of being ripped off or seeing visitors cheated and have decided to skip Phuket as a vacation destination for good.

Still, the island, dubbed the Pearl of the Andaman, is still a place for many to visit. It received 7.4 million visitors last year, 80% foreigners. A large portion of them were Europeans.

Thai authorities have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the problems facing tourists as they have been carried away with the notion that Phuket is too good for tourists to turn their back on. But they should carefully read the EU statement again, as it is sending a signal to the island and the Tourism and Sports Ministry that officials in other countries might not sit idly by if Phuket remains the same.

''For their part, the European Union embassies will continue to maintain a dialogue with the national authorities such as the Ministry of Tourism, as well as ensuring through their travel advice that their citizens have accurate information and advice available to them,'' the statement says.

It will be a good thing for officials to come out and act for the betterment of Phuket. But it will be sad to see them do so only after foreign big shots were forced to make serious complaints _ while Thais have also done that before but ended up with nil result.

That reminds us of what Moody's did with the rice-pledging scheme. Thai critics have been crying foul about the policy and have urged the government to reveal the financial figures behind the scheme to show the extent of the damage. The government simply shrugged them off. But when the credit rating agency threatened a downgrade, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her cabinet became rattled and hastily adjusted the scheme.

Hopefully, the EU diplomats' next stop will be Pattaya.


Saritdet Marukatat is digital media news editor, Bangkok Post.

Saritdet Marukatat

Bangkok Post columnist and former Digital Media News Editor

Saritdet Marukatat is a Bangkok Post columnist and former Digital Media News Editor at the paper. Contact Saritdet at saritdet@yahoo.com

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