BANGKOK, 9 July 2012 – The Senate Committee on Tourism is urging the government to raise awareness about safety measures for tourists via media outlets in a bid to increase their confidence in Thai tourism.
Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Tourism, Mrs. Thanyarat Atchariyachai, has raised the issue of tourist safety during her meeting with tourism officials which is in line with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s 9-point tourism policy.
Under the policy, Mrs. Thanyarat stressed that the safety of tourists should be promoted through all media channels to raise their confidence in Thailand while all crimes against tourists, including theft and money extortion, must be eliminated.
The committee chair said since the death of an Australian woman in a robbery in Phuket last month, the number of foreign tourists in Thailand has declined. She reiterated that in order to raise tourism income of the country to 2 trillion baht by the year 2015 as targeted, the general public must be encouraged to get involved in keeping their community safe for tourists in addition to the efforts by the authorities.
The Senate Committee on Tourism is also calling on the government to support its campaign called ‘Phuket: City of Peace and Happiness’, which will prompt the use of the IT system to provide safety for the tourists.
Mrs. Thanyarat said this would be beneficial to local residents as well, especially in Phuket which is one of Thailand’s major tourist destinations. She added further that if the campaign is proven effective in preventing crimes, it would be used as a case study and adopted in other regions in Thailand in the future.
