Campaign to target foreign mafia in Phuket
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The authorities plan to crack down on foreign mafia gangs who victimised tourists in Phuket and threaten the attractiveness of Thailand's top tourist destination.
Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak visited the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday to seek help in taking action against foreign criminals.
“We have received many complaints, some of them from foreign embassies,” Somsak said.
Several complainants had said mafia-style figures forced tourists into unlicensed taxis and charged a much higher rate than normal.
Somsak said many Russians hired Thais as nominees to run restaurants, souvenir shops, and beach-bed rental services that had exploited tourists.
“These businesses have |not generated any income |for Thailand. Most, if not all, money goes to the mafia gangs’ pock?ets. Their intimidation techniques have also hurt Thailand’s tourism,” the minister said.
Somsak said his ministry |and the DSI would organise a joint operation in Phuket on July 25.
“If it’s successful, we will use a similar approach in other tourist destinations such as Pattaya where mafia-style businesses are reportedly active,” he said.
DSI chief Tarit Pengdith |said the DSI board would be asked to take mafia-style gangs as special cases late this month.
“We have been gathering information for some time. We have found that in some cases, the mafia gangs have even barred ambulances from |picking up patients at hotels. The patients were made to take unlicensed-taxi rides only when they want to leave some hotels,” Tarit said.
He said the authorities would revoke the visas of |foreigners who engage in illegal activity and their ill-gotten assets would be seized.
Phuket is by far the second most-visited destination after Bangkok. The provincial office expects 12 million local and |foreign visitors this year, 15 per cent up from last year. Meanwhile, tourism revenue should grow 20 per cent to Bt220 billion.
