Phasakorn Channgam
Still reeling from an April speedboat accident that injured 18 foreign tourists
and 2 guides, area politicians say a fund set up to compensate injured tourists
must be overhauled before it goes broke.
Banglamung
District Chief Sakchai Taengho said Pattaya’s tourist compensation fund needs
help.
At a May 22 administration board meeting, Banglamung District
Chief Sakchai Taengho said the bylaws governing the Pattaya Tourist Support Fund
should be amended and the program transformed into an association that can
solicit donations to stay afloat.
Sakchai said the fund paid three victims of the April 21 collision of two
tourist boats off Koh Larn 20,000 baht each, leaving only 500,000 baht in the
fund’s coffers. That won’t be enough to keep the program once administrators fix
bylaw shortcomings that became obvious after the accident, said the district
chief, who also serves as the fund’s president.
The main problem with the fund’s governing rules, Sakchai said, is that they
only allow victims of serious crime to receive compensation.
In addition to amending eligibility rules to allow payment to “victims of
serious accidents that would affect the image of Pattaya,” the board should also
increase the maximum payouts to victims, he said.
Currently, tourists with non-disabling injuries can receive a maximum 20,000
baht each. Those disabled by injuries can get up to 50,000 baht and the fund
will pay families of tourists killed in Pattaya 100,000 baht.
In the case of the South Korean tourists, fund administrators made an exception
to allow payment to the three South Korean accident victims, one of which lost a
leg. The national government picked up the cost of hospitalization and emergency
transport home.
“Even though the government covered those expenses, what must also be taken into
account is the alleviation of the perceptual impact of the accident,” Sakchai
said. “It has dramatically affected tourism in Pattaya. Increasing the amount
given to injured tourists would have a good impact on Pattaya’s tourism in the
future.”
While bylaw amendments can be made quickly, the long-term goal, Sakchai said,
should be to reorganize the government fund into a private association. That
way, he said, administrators can solicit donations from private companies to
cover more victims and pay those victims more.
Board member Bundarik Kusolvitya, director of the Thai Hotels Association -
Eastern Chapter, agreed with the idea of reorganization, but cautioned that
“serious research into the process of requesting funds from public agencies or
the private sector must be conducted in advance.”
She said if the officials move deliberately and account for any obstacles, the
hotel association would be amendable to donating.
