Kids aged six and seven swamping tourist police emergency line with prank calls

Prank calls are a problem for emergency hotlines everywhere in the world. Even the demure, outwardly polite Thai kids are getting in on the act these days.

Three children, aged just six and seven, were among eight callers that have made 644 calls in total to the tourist police’s emergency line, keeping the 1155 number needlessly occupied. This was announced by deputy tourist police chief Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal today (Tuesday).

Surachet said his officers had found that callers from the eight numbers had rung the 1155 hotline 644 times recently, disturbing the normal operations of the emergency service for tourists. Police investigated the sources of the calls and found that three of them were being made by young children aged just six and seven, while four other sources were teens with mental problems, the deputy tourist police chief said.

The other multi-caller was an adult who would be facing a fine of 5,000 baht for causing a disturbance, he added.

Surachet said the tourist police had talked to the parents of the seven young kids and teenagers, urging them to ensure that their children do not use a phone to call the emergency line again.

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SOURCE: The Nation