Mr.Somsak Pureesrisak, the new tourism and sports minister, says tourist safety will take priority under his watch.” Japan seen as a good role model for protecting travellers. If Thailand is not a safe destination in the eyes of foreign tourists, it is useless to invest hundreds of billions of baht to promote Thai tourism,” he told a group of reporters as he marked his first official day on the job on Friday.
“So I will seriously focus on this point. This will bring sustainable tourism growth to Thailand and drive tourism revenue to meet the 2-trillion-baht target by 2015.”
Mr Somsak served as a deputy governor of Suphan Buri and Ang Thong provinces from 2002 to 2006 and as governor of Suphan Buri from 2006 to 2012.
Suphan Buri is the home of former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa, the de facto head of the Chartthaipattana Party, currently serving a five-year ban from politics. The previous holder of the tourism post was Mr Banharn’s brother Chumpol, who died in January.
Mr Somsak expressed confidence that he could work smoothly with related agencies including the Royal Thai Police.
“The state should increase punishment against those who commit crimes like robbery and assault against tourists,” he said.”I will adopt safety measures similar to those used in Japan, a country that rarely has criminal complaints from tourists.”
Thailand attracted 22 million tourists last year despite some incidents that brought widespread negative publicity. Authorities have faced criticism for failing to deal swiftly and decisively with serious crimes including rape committed against tourists.
The Thai Cabinet named Somsak Phurisrisak as the new tourism and sports minister, whose appointment was later endorsed by His Majesty the King on Tuesday.
The government’s selection came as no surprise. Mr Somsak was tipped as the top candidate to fill the vacant post after Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism and Sports Minister, Chumpol Silpa-archa, died 21 January.
Mr Somsak was the Suphan Buri governor until he retired, 30 September 2012, but worked closely with Chat Thai Pattana chief advisory, Banharn Silpa-archa.
However, the tourism sector will bemoan the fact that the new minister lacks experience and may require considerable time to grasp the big picture issues that demand his attention almost immediately.
He might take comfort from the simplistic demands of government that require him to deliver a tourism revenue of Bt2 trillion by 2015. Then the Cabinet will ask him not to ignore the need to establish Thailand as a tourism hub.
He may choose to ignore the voices of experts who are warning the government that a balance must be achieved to ensure tourism is in harmony with culture and heritage. As it stands today, tourism is a threat to national heritage and experts are calling on the government to support a sustainable version that would have less negative impact on the country’s social fabric.
Phuket, Pattaya and to a lesser degree Chiang Mai are the casualties of a tourism greed that has bull-dozed over community values and natural assets.
But creating balance, sustainability is far from the thoughts of even the Tourism Council of Thailand that breathes a sigh of relief over the status quo reflected in this appointment.
Commenting on political overtures, Tourism Council of Thailand president said: “Chat Thai Pattana Party continues to supervise the Ministry of Tourism and Sports as it has done for years and the new minister comes from that party so we are not expecting any changes in policy.”
(source:Bangkok Post, TTR weekly)