India warns tourists, expresses doubts over Pattaya officials’ commitment
(L to R) Deputy Mayor Ronakit
Ekasingh, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, Chonburi Governor Khomsan Ekachai,
Chonburi Police Deputy Commander Pisit Proirungroj, and Banglamung District
Chief Chaowalit Saeng-Uthai discuss problems facing tourism in Pattaya.
Staff reporters
Chonburi’s governor has established yet another committee
to discuss regulations aimed the endless series of tourist scams perpetrated
by Pattaya’s jet ski operators.
Under pressure from both the Prime Minister’s Office and
the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Gov. Khomsan Ekachai Aug. 9 named Pattaya
mayor, deputy mayor and permanent secretary, Banglamung District’s chief and
the city’s acting police chief to the panel which will “brainstorm new
ideas” for drafting regulations concerning registration, limiting the number
of jet skis and evaluating damage compensation and penalties for scammers.
“The jet ski issue is a long standing one and it is time
that it must be seriously dealt with,” Khomsan said. He said once the
committee has drafted new rules, they will be given to the governor who
pledged to “completely eradicate the issue.”
Athapol Vannakit, director of TAT’s Pattaya office, can
only hope he does. But he has reason to be skeptical. The new committee is
the third established in the past two years and comprised of many of the
same officials who, so far, have done little more than wring their hands and
posture for reporters before doing nothing to resolve the problem.
Foreign governments, he told the governor, are not
waiting around.
The Indian tourist agency is now warning visitors to
avoid Pattaya if planning to go to Thailand for water sports. The country’s
embassy, as well as those representing Pattaya’s other two top markets,
Russia and China, have expressed doubts about the resolve of Pattaya
officials to fix the problem.
A top Indian newspaper went even further, publishing a
story at the top of its BangaloreMirror.com home page with a damning
headline, condemning the local police for what the Indian newspaper sees as
their alleged involvement.
If the problem isn’t fixed soon, Athapol said, the
billions of baht the agency has spent on developing the Indian, Russian and
Chinese markets will be wasted.
At an Aug. 9 meeting, Khomsan and top Pattaya elected and
police officials agreed the Thai Waters Navigation Act of 2003 deems jet
skis as recreational boats only and cannot be rented as commercial
watercraft. But, inexplicably, the assembled bureaucrats didn’t use that
determination to outright ban vendors.
Instead, the governor said the committee will draft new
rules to allow the practice to continue under tighter regulations.
The jet ski issue was identified by the Prime Minister’s
Office and a top Royal Thai Police consultant as one of the major obstacles
to Thailand increasing its tourism revenue to 2 trillion baht by 2015.
Traffic and security in Pattaya were other issues.
Chonburi police commander Maj. Gen. Jumong Rattanakul
said security concerns can be addressed by training business owners on
relevant laws and creating new security regulations at a later date.
Traffic issues can be solved by allowing local police to
ticket drivers on Highway 7 and solving congestion on local streets.
Pattaya Business & Tourism Association President Wiwat
Pattanasin told the group that Pattaya will continue to lose revenue as long
as traffic woes exist.
