How can Thailand get a better reputation?
A 16 year old and a 21 year old Australian have been arrested in Phuket for shoplifting perfumes in the airport worth 22 000 THB and since they did this at night the punishment is higher.
No 16 year old should be put in Thai jail, Thai or not Thai but specially a tourist if Thailand wanted to improve the reputation.
I have no idea if these people are guilty or not but this is not the issue here. As soon as media get hold of the story that Thailand puts somebody in prison that is 16 years old they will get a bad reputation.
Punish the scammers
Some Thai people live to scam the tourist that comes here and they are seldom punished. The person behind the airport scam in Bangkok has not been punished yet no word about the Thai police involved in the case. Why not name and shame this people and give them a lengthy punishment for damage Thailand a reputation since there is a law against that?
Move the criminal case forward
Visitors to Thailand should not be forces to stay in Thailand for longer than needed. A person is innocent until proven guilty and if Thailand forces somebody to stay here then that’s a punishment. For a 16 year old girl and her family it must be a nightmare to be forced to stay in Thailand until it’s over. Many tourists have been forced to pay the Thai police money to move the case forward. The law says that the Thai police can keep the case for two weeks but sometimes it takes much longer than that. When it comes to tourists the case should be solved as soon as possible and punishment should be swift. For a petty crime like stealing a towel and wait 4 weeks in Thailand for 1000 THB fine is totally unacceptable.
Bail
To have a 100 000 THB or even 30 000 THB bail for a crime that in the end will give you a 1000 THB fine will not work for a Thai person and it should not work for a tourist as well. Treat the tourist the same way you treat the local Thai people or maybe better and the media will respect that. But now the Thai police put bail at will and sometimes a Thai person that have shoot somebody can come out on 10 000 THB bail.
Foreign examples
Thailand is making a court for drunk driving, why not have a court for tourists. It does not need to be special courts just make it possible in case if some tourists would be stupid enough to steal a towel. The case can be over in 48 hours and Thailand would gain in reputation. Many other countries have this kind of cases when a foreigner for example had some small amount of drugs with him or her. They convicted them within a day and send them packing.
Big criminal’s normal courts
Thailand should continue pursue big criminals that smuggle drugs or do major crimes like murder or big thefts but there is no reason to keep small shoplifters for weeks in custody. Thailand should not let tourists slip away with crime but they could become a better tourist’s destination by handling it in a smoother Thai silky way.
Why always Phuket?
Maybe the Thai officials should take a look at why in Phuket these cases always happen. Is there somebody or someone that creates this kind of problems and maybe should be transferred to a very inactive post?
