French team to train local police in VIP security

PHUKET: Eight expert bodyguards from France will arrive in Phuket next month to teach police here how to mount effective security for the growing number of VIPs visiting the island. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvarachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that the team will be led by Thierry Guilleminot, technical director of the police unit which provides security for French President Jacques Chirac. The training sessions will take place between October 4 and 7 at Kinnaree House, on the Chalong-Kata road, and will concentrate primarily on weapons skills. Pol Col Kokiat said that 15 officers will be chosen for the training course from police stations all over Phuket. The training will cost nothing, he added. He and Mr Guilleminot are personal friends, and the French team will be paying all their own costs.