Phuket court to revive tourist section amid rising crime against visitors
The Phuket Provincial Court is set to revive its tourist section in response to an increasing number of court cases involving tourists. This initiative is led by the acting chief justice of the Phuket Provincial Court, Kriangsak Rodpunshoo. He disclosed that the influx of both local and international tourists in Phuket has led to a spike in both criminal and civil cases featuring tourists.
According to Kriangsak, this surge in court cases is undermining tourists’ trust in their safety and the security of their belongings. It is also negatively impacting the overall tourism sector throughout Thailand. Kriangsak believes that the reinstatement of the tourist court section will help tourists receive justice when they find themselves embroiled in legal disputes, whether they be criminal or civil, or even in disagreements with governmental bodies, said Kriangsak.
“This will build tourists’ confidence and create a good image of Phuket province and tourism in Thailand as a whole.”
The tourist section was initially established on September 24, 2017, but was forced to halt its operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Among its various duties, the section assists tourists in lodging consumer protection complaints, facilitates negotiations, locates tourist witnesses, and issues subpoenas to sued business owners, reported Bangkok Post.
The decision to reopen the tourist section comes on the heels of a recent incident in Phuket involving two tourists from New Zealand. They have since been barred from re-entry into the country following their assault on a traffic police officer on March 16. Their charges include robbery, obstructing an officer on duty, assaulting a law enforcement officer, driving without a licence, and bribery.
In related news, a drunken Ukrainian tourist was apprehended in the early hours of January 15 in Phuket following a succession of boisterous episodes at Patong Police Station.
Displaying signs of intoxication, the Eastern European man made an appearance at Patong Police Station on January 14, instantly becoming a source of disturbance and public inconvenience, revealed the local police.
