Suvarnabhumi Police Station Gets The Nod
A
proposal to set up a special police station inside the Suvarnabhumi
airport has been approved in principle by a committee for solving
problems at the airport and improving the service, deputy police chief
Watcharapol Prasarnratchakij said on Friday.
Pol Gen Watcharapol announced this after a meeting of the committee
chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.
The proposal was made by Pol Gen Watcharapol and strongly supported by
Mr Suthep at a previous meeting of the committee, set up to handle the
problems of unlicensed taxi drivers and tour guides and other crime at
the airport terminal and the entire 20,000 rai facility.
Pol Gen Watcharapol said it was initially agreed that the station would
be manned by 280 police from the Central Investigation Bureau and
Tourist Police Division. About 1,000 guards employed by
Airports of Thailand (AoT) would be made police assistants.
He said this matter would be forwarded to a meeting of the Police
Commission in two weeks for discussion about the allocation of a budget
and personnel.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand and AoT would be asked to help with
financial support for the airport police station.
Pol Gen Watcharapol believed that the new police station would make
tourists feel safer.
Suvarnabhumi has been plagued with problems ranging from
baggage theft to extortion of tourists. The gigantic facility comes
under the supervision of Samut Prakan's urban Racha Thewa police
station, which has just 200 staff.
Foreign travelers who had been detained on suspicion of shoplifting
inside the terminal - some in dubious circumstances - had complained of
fearing for their safety when taken from the airport to Racha Thewa
police station.
Pol Gen Watcharapol had earlier said, to back up his proposal, that
between 80,000 and 120,000 people pass through the airport every day
but Racha Thewa station can send only 50 police to keep law and order.
Source:
BangkokPost.com,
25/09/2009
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