BANGKOK, 29 January 2013 The Ministry of Tourism and Sports is reportedly planning to request from the Cabinet a mid-year budget allocation to develop a comprehensive security plan to assure long-term safety for tourists. According to Tourism and Sports Ministry Spokesperson Mr. Watchara Kannika, the goal of the Ministry is to raise confidence in the safety measures for foreign travelers in Thailand. Other units such as the Royal Thai Police and the Ministry of Transport will also join the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in developing and implementing the comprehensive safety scheme.
In addition to the scheme, the Ministry is also running a program which recruits volunteers who live around tourist attractions for a training program to assist tourists in various crisis scenarios.
The program has been piloted in Pattaya City, Chonburi province, where 400 volunteers are participating in. Mr. Watchara further added that the same program will be later launched in Phuket, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui where statistics show they are more vulnerable to tourist attacks than any other cities.
The Spokesperson boasted the success of the program, citing lower crime rates and a higher number of arrests in the pilot province than the cities without cooperation from local volunteers.
