“Tourist Police i lert u” mobile app launched to help tourists quickly

“Tourist Police i lert u” is a new mobile app launched yesterday to allow tourists quick access to emergency response and general assistance. The app was launched by the Tourist Police as a means to improve safety by providing easy access to help when needed. The app comes at the same time as the Ministry of Tourism launched a tourism portal to help new arrivals in Thailand and the Tourist Police Chief explained how the new app will benefit tourists in their times of need.

“The application was developed under cooperation with Ministry of Tourism and Sports with an aim to create a platform that helps increase ease of travelling for visitors to the country. The ‘Tourist Police i lert u’ application utilizes the global positioning system or GPS to locate tourists who require assistance from authorities while travelling in Thailand. The application enables police’s faster response to [an] emergency situation and helps alleviate tourists’ concerns over the safety of their lives and property while travelling in Thailand.”

The app will run in conjunction with the 1155 call centre the Tourist Police currently operate and hopes to raise awareness so tourists will know who to contact and how before they end up in a desperate situation. The call centres is available in English, Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese was not specified), Russian, Japanese, and Korean currently, with plans in place to add Arabic, German, and French sometime next year.

The mobile app will connect to the 1155 centre when emergency response is required and police and first responders can call back the phone number entered when the user downloaded and installed the app. They can dispatch police officers or the appropriate department to help a tourist in need to their location using the GPP in the app. The “Tourist Police i lert u” mobile app also allows users to take a photo of any incident through the system to report problems and request help.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand