A “clickbait” story in an English tabloid that was heavy on sensationalism and light on facts has sent Pattaya officials into a tizzy over international media coverage.
Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn, a city council member and president of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association, expressed his concern Feb. 20 that foreign newspapers and websites – particularly those in the tabloid-heavy United Kingdom – are playing up crime and sex in Pattaya to get readers at the expense of the city’s reputation.
A recent story in the Mirror newspaper regurgitated the same trite generalizations about Pattaya as seen in other U.K. tabloids in recent years, making up statistics where no authoritative ones exist, particularly regarding the number of sex workers in the city.
If the Mirror were to be believed, one in five Pattaya women are prostitutes, a claim that would be laughable if not so insulting to the local population, officials said.
Sinchai acknowledged that Pattaya does have a sizeable red light industry as well as crime you’d expect in a city of a million residents and tourists, but that doesn’t mean authorities aren’t doing something about it. However, as politicians around the world know, good news isn’t news to websites trying to bait people into clicking headlines or buy their papers.
Sinchai pointed out that Pattaya’s demographics have been changing with more couples and families that come for the many tourist attractions and resorts, not the bars. But change takes time, he said.
Pol. Col. Apichai Kroppech, the chief of Pattaya Police revealed that it is hard work for the police but they are not giving up in doing their utmost best to secure the big beach resort. There are times when all corners are not covered but police are constantly coming up with countermeasures and crime prevention activities which have proved to be successful in many ways.
Tourist Police Division commander Pol. Maj. Piyapong Ensarn said authorities are stopping up inspections and raids along Beach Road and in nightlife districts. Like in every major tourist destination around the world, people are arrested every day.
