Decha calls for volunteers

PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch once again called for more police officers and civil defense volunteers in a meeting this morning at ST Hotel. Comparing Phuket to Las Vegas, he said that more officers are needed to keep Phuket safe, especially after the recent bombings in Haad Yai.

At the Phuket Provincial Security Committee meeting, chairman Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima expressed concerns for the security of Phuket following the most recent bombings in the Deep South.

“I would like to ask police officers at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint to continue checking for bombs, guns and suspicious people 24 hours a day during this time,” he said.

Gen Decha replied that all of the 1,060 officers in Phuket are working hard, but there are still not enough officers, making it difficult to increase the number of officers at the checkpoint into the island.

“Phuket has many events that require police presence for security, but I would like to ask the civil defense volunteers, and there are more than 1,000 of them in the three districts, to help police provide security,” he said.

“For example, if we have only two officers to work at the [Tah Chat Chai] checkpoint, it would be great if another five volunteers could help the police there because there are more than 10,000 vehicles that go by that checkpoint every day.”

He explained that police are working hard on other areas of enforcement as well.

“A few days ago officers from the Phuket Provincial Health Office asked police officers to help them check the pink cards from women working in bars. This is just one example of how we have to do a lot of work in different areas,” he said.

Gen Decha went on to explain that police workload is increasing because more people are moving into Phuket, while the number of officers has remained constant.

“I heard that in Pattaya they have CCTV cameras installed every 100 meters. While the CCTVs do help, we have one per kilometer here. Phuket is like the Las Vegas of Thailand because it is open all day and night. I would like to ask more volunteers to join the force and help deal directly with the police to get the job done together,” he said.

Gen Decha suggested that civil defense volunteers could provide foot patrols in business areas or near gold shops to let people see them in uniform or “at least be a witness”, should something happen.