Opinion
The Thaiger Opinion Columns
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Opinion: Working together to win the war on drugs
Lt Col Somkid Boonrat, from Songkhla province, is chief of the investigation department at the Phuket Provincial Police Station. After graduating from the Royal Thai Police Cadet Academy, he continued on to earn a bachelor’s degree in law from Ramkhamhaeng University and a master’s degree in business administration from Prince of Songkhla University. Lt Col Somkid has been head of…
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Opinion: Beach bums blue after latest Phuket ban
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup is correct in calling for a compromising approach to the ban on beach chairs on the island (story here). An equitable and transparent solution must be worked out before this latest embarrassment causes irreparable damage to the island’s tourism industry, permanently driving away many of the island’s most loyal guests. Images of elderly tourists being…
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Chinese New Year is for all islanders
Dr Kosol Tang-Uthai is the deputy mayor of Phuket City and president of the Thai Peranakan Association, a group dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Phuket’s unique Chinese culture. Dr Kosol earned his doctorate from Mahidol University, and has been serving as president of the association since 2007. Here, he explains the importance of the Chinese New Year…
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Opinion: High time for high-tide building rule enforcement
PHUKET: There is reason to be cautiously optimistic that the unprecedented involvement of the Administrative Court system in a controversial real-estate development case in Rawai (story here) could mark the emergence of a powerful new tool to ensure that local administrative bodies do a better job approving and overseeing work on future projects on the island, thus bolstering investor confidence.…
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Opinion: Taking surf safety seriously
PHUKET: Kudos to Phuket Tourist Police volunteer Simon Luttrell for providing lifeguards with multi-language warning cards to help keep foreign tourists out of the surf in dangerous conditions. His generous action, though, raises the question of why local authorities and tourism agencies did not take similar action years ago. The cards (story here) address one of the key reasons why…
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Opinion: Phuket Tourist Police should be your first call
Maj Urumporn Koondejsumrit has been chief of the Tourist Police since 2012. He earned a master’s degree in science in criminal justice for leadership from Sam Houston State University in Texas before graduating from the Royal Police Cadet Academy. Here, Maj Urumporn advises tourists to be alert in order to avoid becoming victims of a crime, and promises that Tourist…
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Opinion: Jet-skis: a hazard for everyone
PHUKET: This letter goes out to Lt Col Chatchai Sakdee of the Phuket Marine Police. Dear Col Chatchai: My wife and I have been visiting Thailand on our yacht on and off now for the last four years and generally love it. There is one matter, though, that I would like to draw to your attention: jet-ski hazards to anchored…
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Opinion: Co-operation is key to keeping us safe
Phuriphat Theerakulpisut, 47, originally from Trang province, is chief of the Phuket Marine Office. He graduated from the Merchant Marine Training Center in 1986. Here, he talks about the duties of the Phuket Marine Office, and the changes and problems he has seen and encountered during his time as chief. PHUKET: It could be said that the Phuket Marine Office…
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Opinion: Phuket teens can booze, thanks to local shops
PHUKET: The recent order by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha confirming that the basic terms of the controversial Alcohol Control Act of 2008 will remain unchanged comes as great news for “mom-and-pop” store operators across the nation, as it ensures that they will maintain their most important competitive advantage over increasingly powerful chain store competitors: the ability to sell alcohol…
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Opinion: Re-focus hunt from hormonal teens to gun-making enablers
PHUKET: Since mid-December, there have been four drive-by shootings reported in Phuket – three of which were fatal, and at least two of which were carried out by gangs of motorcycle-riding teenagers. The fact that these latest three attacks have occurred within the past month is truly horrifying, and is a far-from-comforting thought as the island’s tourism season continues to…
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Aussie Amb wishes Phuket happy Australia Day
Paul Robilliard has been the Australian Ambassador to Thailand since his appointment in October last year. A senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and currently First Assistant Secretary, South and West Asia Division, Amb Robilliard has served twice as Head of the United Nations Security Council Taskforce (July – Oct 2013 and Nov 2012…
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Opinion: The future of the Andaman’s coral reefs is in the hands of Phuket tourists
PHUKET: A recent comment made by a high-ranking government official that seawalking tourists should be allowed to continue hand-feeding bread crumbs to reef fish is a serious cause for concern. Ministry of Tourism and Sports Phuket Office Director Santi Pawai recently went on a fact-finding mission to investigate claims that a marine tourism operator’s seawalker tours off the coast of…
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Phuket transport saga: A long, strange trip
PHUKET: Even as my bus was drawing into the new Phuket bus terminal, predators were circling the bus full of unsuspecting, defenceless, bus-lagged tourists who were dying for a fresh shower or a chance to jump straight into the sea. Little did they know that their short remaining journeys would cost them half as much – if not the full…
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Opinion: Privatized driving tests – driven by cash, or care?
PHUKET: The move by the Department of Land Transport (DLT) to privatize driver’s licence testing is a practical idea (story here), but one that is unlikely to have much impact on the dismal road-safety standards that keep Thai roads among the most dangerous on the planet. For years, going through the process of obtaining a car or motorbike driver’s licence…
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Opinion: Phuket prejudice against the law
PHUKET: The fatal shot fired by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, was not heard around the world, but the repercussions of slaying an unarmed black man, Michael Brown, were. The shooting, trial and subsequent similar situation in New York, focused all major American and international media on issues that economically depressed black communities face in the US. The war of…
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Letter from the Governor: Let your children know you care
Nisit Jansomwong, 52, from Ratchaburi, landed on the island in October to take up the position of Phuket Governor. He has a master’s degree in administration from Chulalongkorn University, where he graduated with honors. Before coming to Phuket, Governor Nisit was governor of Ratchaburi province for one year. PHUKET: Children’s Day gives us the chance to show children just how…
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Hotel compulsory buffets are hard to swallow
PHUKET: There are some things we take for granted in life as being inherently part of it. Death and taxes are two of the most obvious examples, but there are again certain givens foisted on us that have absolutely no right to be there, yet we blithely accept them as being part and parcel of existence. Tourists in foreign climes…
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Phuket’s monkey business flouting the law
Edwin Wiek is founder and director of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), an NGO protecting wildlife and nature in Thailand and Laos. He has been living in Thailand since 1989 and in 2001, founded WFFT. Here he talks about the mammoth problems facing wildlife protection forces, including systematic corruption at local level. PHUKET: While most people visit Phuket for…
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Opinion: Phuket’s AEC success hangs in the balance
PHUKET: While the past year brought unprecedented developments in reclaiming public beaches from the hands of corrupt local politicians, the fact remains that the days of Phuket getting by solely on its merits as a beach-tourism destination have gone. The terms of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) are set to come into effect in 2015, in theory transforming its 10…
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Opinion: Phuket, an island haven lost
PHUKET: A couple of weeks ago, I joined some work colleagues for lunch at a Cherng Talay restaurant. The restaurant is Australian-owned and caters mainly to expats who are homesick for stodgy meat pies and other Western fare. While waiting to be served I noticed, among the restaurant memorabilia, an old black-and-white photograph on the wall. It depicted a group…
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The Iermakov affair: Where the Thai police and the Army make strange bedfellows
PHUKET: The arrest of five soldiers by police for the abduction of Ukrainian businessman Igor Iermakov last week demonstrates the need for better cooperation between the Royal Thai Police and the military in international crime cases while the nation remains under martial law (story here). Cases involving international fugitives who opt for Phuket as a safe haven are certainly nothing…
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Opinion: Fine solution for Phuket
PHUKET: The allegation of a 5,000-baht fine levied against a tourist for illegally parking a motorbike in a restricted zone in Karon (story here) raises several issues about the future role of local administrative bodies, both in terms of how they raise revenue and how they use these funds. The fact that Karon Municipality now appears to be taking a…
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Opinion: Future cloudy for 2015 AEC
Robert Virasin, a licenced US attorney, has served as a legal manager of Siam Legal International since June 2014. Prior to joining the firm, he received his Masters of Law in International Business from Chulalongkorn University, a bachelor’s degree from University of California and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center. Here, Mr Virasin discusses the future…
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Opinion: No more umbrellas, no more Phuket
PHUKET: My family, together with two other families, have travelled together to enjoy our holidays in Phuket, and Karon Beach in particular, every Swedish winter for the past 13 years. But now it’s over. We are able to see Karon Beach from a web camera that broadcasts video online from a resort beside the beach – and because there are…
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Opinion: Time to forge a new future for Phuket
Bhuritt Maswongssa is the vice president of Marketing at the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA). Originally from Yala, he moved to Phuket in 1985. Vice chairman of the Patong Resort Hotel; a law graduate from both Ngee Ann College in Singapore and Ramkhamhaeng University in Thailand; and a master’s graduate in business from Phuket Rajabhat University; Mr Bhuritt is a force…
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Opinion: Bad timing for Phuket’s full-scale tsunami drill
PHUKET: The announcement of plans to conduct a full-scale tsunami evacuation drill in Phuket on Christmas Day was a surprise (story here), given that the next day marks the 10th anniversary of the most horrific loss of life and devastation in the island’s recorded history. Thankfully, the inevitable complaints about the timing have been lodged, and hopefully it is not…
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Opinion: Beware of deadly little worms, Phuket
PHUKET: I am surprised that the Department of Disease Control does not inform the public of or educate it about the dangers of eating raw foods. There is a disease, called gnathostomiasis, caused by a nasty little worm that is ingested by eating raw or partially cooked foods, particularly freshwater fish and crustaceans, but also eels, frogs, birds and reptiles.…
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Opinion: Saying it with puppets in Phuket [video]
Rat Puanrak, 40, graduated with an electronic engineering degree from Ragamangala University of Technology in Nonthaburi. However, he made a career switch to the tourism industry before becoming a professional freelance photographer. He then began studying the art of puppetry and eventually founded the Phuket Marionette. Here, he talks about how the art of puppetry can help children develop into…
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Opinion: Remember, Phuket, it’s a long road ahead to road safety
PHUKET: Phuket’s yet-to-be-observed first marking of the annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (story here) needs to serve not only as a memorial to those who have perished on our roads, but also as a reminder that we have a long way to go in raising road safety to something resembling acceptable international standards. Statistics indicating a…
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Opinion: Dealing with unwanted phone messages
PHUKET: Earlier this year, after I returned to Phuket from South Africa, a friend of mine gave me a 49-baht TrueMove H SIM card package – the type you can just top up at a 7-Eleven or Family Mart without having to worry about the hassle of monthly bills. That suited me fine. After South Africa, where you have to…
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