The tour followed Pol Maj Gen Saksira launching the Strong Tourism Community (STC) project with a mass assembly of Tourist Police and officers from supporting law-enforcement and tourists assistance agencies in Phuket Town on Sunday.
The visit to Bangla Rd was just one of 10 tourist attractions where the STC project is to be piloted, explained a report by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department yesterday (Nov 7).
The STC project was launched in accordance with the government’s policy to urgently stimulate the tourism economy, Maj Gen Saksira said.
“And the Minister of Tourism and Sports has placed emphasis on building confidence in providing safety to tourists,” he said.
“Therefore, the Tourist Police has launched the Strong Tourism Community project to take care of the safety of tourists by piloting [the project in] 10 important tourist attractions all over the country, of which Soi Bangla, Patong, Phuket, is one of the 10 tourist attractions,” he added.
“The Strong Tourism Community project must increase the potential to provide safety for tourists in all dimensions, in traffic safety, accidents, and acts of violence against bodies, lives, and property. We must raise the standard of safety for tourists both in the short and long term in a stable manner in order to create truly sustainable tourism,” Maj Gen Saksira said.
The initial stage of the project requires cooperation from local people, business operators and network partners in all sectors, he explained.
“A joint meeting has already been held to brainstorm ideas for maintaining tourist safety and promoting the tourism industry on Soi Bangla, Patong, an important tourist destination with a large number of popular tourists, including an entertainment area where safety must be taken care of,” he said.
“It starts with training security guards who must have the skills to take care of tourists’ safety. They must be ready to stop incidents and provide effective initial assistance,” Maj Gen Saksira noted.
“This will strengthen the image of being a safe international tourist city, and help to develop and promote sustainable tourism,” he concluded.