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Ministry hatches safety plan

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BANGKOK, 18 July 2018: Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has released details of a rehabilitation plan for marine tourism, following the catastrophic boat accident in Phuket, 5 July.

Two tourists boats capsized in rough seas off Phuket’s southern coast drowning 47 Chinese tourists and injuring another 56.

In the aftermath of the rescue effort and distribution of compensation claims, the ministry has outlined a plan to review and restructure marine and harbour regulations at all coastal resorts. 

The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary of Tourism and Sports, Pongpanu Svetarundra, confirmed THB30 million in compensation had already been paid to families of those who drowned.

In addition, 13 survivors received compensation for medical treatment and property loss raising the total compensation to THB30,362,000.

Further compensation payments will be made from the ministry’s funds and also from insurance companies that covered the two tourist boats.

But the ministry now faces a massive failure of confidence in the country’s marine safety rules with critics claiming duty-of-care needs a fix.

Minister of Tourism and Sports, Weerasak Kowsurat, alluded to the duty-of-care issue in recent statements saying the focus should shift to enhancing safety as a prerequisite for the delivery of a quality tourism experience.

Last year, 9.8 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand, of which around 3 million visited Phuket. There are concerns that Chinese tourists will avoid booking holidays in Thailand fearing they are not adequately protected, or valued.

In the aftermath, tourist arrivals from China to Phuket have dropped with some news sources saying the island’s economy will lose THB42 million over the next three months.

However, in a statement released by country’s National News Bureau, 16 July, the Minister said the “reduced number of tourist arrivals was not critical, but relevant agencies would continue to monitor the situation”.

He promised that “those responsible for the boat mishap must be prosecuted and tourist confidence has to be restored quickly.”

In its update on measures to remedy the fallout from the accident, the ministry confirmed confidence-building campaigns would be initiated mainly to sponsor Chinese media to write compelling positive stories to counter heavy social media criticism.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has reconfirmed that the Thailand Golf Travel Mart 2018, 23 to 25 July 2018, scheduled to be hosted in Phuket will proceed as normal.

But the impact on the island’s tourism sector should not be under-estimated.

Marine safety is abysmal at all coastal resorts with a lack of compliance and an ignorance of regulations. Officials fail to discipline errant boat owners, or captains, while even the training and examinations required to obtain a captain’s licence are inadequate.

Restructuring will start with marine legislation and rules with stricter monitoring of registration documents for tourist boats.

A boat or company’s shareholder and director structure will be scrutinised and foreign equity or directors must be clearly identified in documents.

The Department of Tourism has been told to scrutinise tour company registration more carefully to weed out Thai nominees that are in fact holding stock on behalf of foreign investors.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports was quoted saying “the safety of marine tourism, our cliffs, mountains and our caves” must be a priority”.

The ministry outlined basic objectives in its statement.

Provide clear and accurate safety information at tourist attractions such as caves, mountains, waterfalls and marine attractions with alerts that provide clarity for travellers in order to lower or eliminate risks.

Create preventive measures that end illegal practices linked to the management of tourism, particularly tour operators and marine transport that have a history of skirting around regulations.

Establish clearer guidelines and ensure tourists are aware of the risks and are properly covered by insurance.

Many of the changes will involve the Ministry of Transport, the Harbour Department, provincial administration offices and the offices of governors. It will require considerable cooperation with various agencies including the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Marine safety and the need to improve compliance and upgrade certification courses for boat captains make headlines whenever an accident occurs.

The former Minister of Tourism and Sports issued statements in 2016 saying marine safety was being addressed after a serious boating accident near Samui island.

It remains to be seen if the current minister can roll in those proposed changes under his watch to raise the safety benchmark for tourists visiting the country.

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