Chalerm vows to get rid of mafias in tourism businesses

Chalerm was speaking of the threat posed by gangsterlike operators in tourist destinations after a meeting with tourist police as well as senior officials from the Tourism and Sports Ministry and governors from provinces popular among tourists. Attending the hourlong meeting were the governors of Phuket, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Sukhothai, Tak and Kanchanaburi. Representatives from the Land Transport Department and the Harbour Department were also present.
Chalerm said that he had called the meeting because Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had given him the job of stepping up security for both Thai and foreign tourists. He said the government wanted to boost tourism revenue to Bt2 trillion within five years.
The deputy prime minister said that from now on he would ensure that all government agencies concerned would cooperate to make destinations safe for tourists. He said that the government would focus on problems specific to each tourist destination and crackdown on organised gangs that have been preying on travellers. For instance, he said, Phuket has the problem of unlicensed taxis as well as local mafia overcharging foreigners for beach chairs and jet skies.
He said the local problems had to crackdown on these gangs as soon as possible or he would visit the provinces in person to deal with the problem.
“I want to see the situation improved in 90 days,” he warned.