"Happy Zone" is the answer to resort's woes says top cop at Pattaya crisis meeting on crime and tourism

[wakeupplease]

"Happy Zones'

 

Loads of our quality tourists and local ex pats queuing up here then

 

They will be under the impression its Yaba Yaba time

[FitnessHealthTravel]

8 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

They are trying to eradicate the places where you can get a 'happy ending', so where, exactly, will the 'happy zones' be ? 

I already know where the Happy Zones are...

[jippytum]

People like Pattaya because its a happy zone place .Any thing  you want mostly available everywhere day or night .

[ocddave]

The key is more boots on the street, and coordinating their efforts, so when someone say uses a machete to attack someone, they don't get 2 blocks before being shot dead in the street. A couple of failed robberies later and the situation should be solved.

[Global Guy]

Having trained, worked, and consulted law enforcement in the West spanning three decades, the first thing I notice with this article is Thai LE is shifting the burden of policing onto private businesses. Businesses have to get CCTV, communicate to LE things they see, etc.

 

You cannot have an effective LE of a community if the foundation of it....rule of law....is almost non-existent. You can have the most expensive building in the country but if it's built on quicksand, the building is useless. It is this lack of rule of law that made me decide to have our investment group not spend one baht in Thailand and me not even buy real estate for myself.

 

LE consists of two approaches used simultaneously. Proactive and reactive. Prevention/deterrence of crime (proactive) and significant punishment and follow up after a crime has been committed (reactive).

 

Where crime goes up, you instill a heavy police presence who are doing their jobs (not taking bribes). Criminals follow the path of least resistance and will avoid heavily policed areas if done properly.

 

Then, make the punishment actually punish the criminal. Not a slap on the wrist. Now, small fines do not deter or punish criminals.

 

As others have suggested, the police need to do their jobs properly and thoroughly. That is where the focus should be. How about instead of making businesses the eyes and ears of LE, make the police the eyes and ears of LE?

 

I know that will never happen, and crime will continue to get worse. Social media is too powerful these days to expect all the crime to go unnoticed by potential tourists. Tourism will continue to decline until something serious is done about the crime, including all the scams Thais pull on foreigners. And, as they are finding out, the Chinese are not the answer to lost Western tourist money.

 

Also, throw in enforcement of traffic laws.

 

Again, I know NONE of this will happen.

[SiSePuede419]

If you're already happy, then why would you need a "Happy zone"?  Everywhere happy people are is a Happy zone.

 

Conclusion:  The Pattaya happy zone is for unhappy, sad people.

 

But we already knew that.  Right. ?

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

They are trying to eradicate the places where you can get a 'happy ending', so where, exactly, will the 'happy zones' be ? 

Hopefully on planet Mars

[chakatee]

for me those happy zones are fine, I don't mind, as long as they will not ban the shops with fake goods from those happy zones

[lensta]

6 hours ago, Katipo said:

Who thinks up these daft names? "Happy Zones", really???

What do you expect from 5 year old children?

[Bangkok Barry]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Specifically he asked for all establishments to set up their own CCTV.

 

They demanded this a few years ago so I assume they are already installed 

[Shaunduhpostman]

You can guess they'll try and make the bars buy, install and maintain their own CCTVs. And of course it will be cheaper and easier for the bars  to simply not comply, since there is little chance the cops are going to get around to systematically checking each and every one of the hundreds of bars in the Walking Street area and that will probably be the end of it. It will just be another rule they can wave at some bar owner to insure they get their fines and bribes on an as needed basis.

[conwy]

Maybe it's  a good idea.
 
I vote for Soi 6 to be the first Happy Zone.
These are  a few of the  improvements I propose.
 
Keep it open 24/7
Remove all street vendors.
Remove all Lady boys hassling honest mongers in the Soi,  they can stay in the bars but not on the street.
Remove all family tourists.
Remove all Chinese / India sight seers  from the soi
Remove all western women.
Remove all fat ladies sat outside stuffing there gobs all day long.
Recruit more sexy ladies to replace the fat ones.
Remove all knob heads guys  sitting out side the bars staring at customers walking down the street.
Replace all bar front with the old blacked out glass.
Ban all smart phones from ladies whilst at work.
Remove anyone from Norway not enjoying themselves .
 
Carry on Soi 6  
 
 
 
 
 
 

I will be the only there

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[timewilltell]

I believe crimes against tourists are viewed much more leniently by the courts than Thais against their own kind. This is just a facet of the racism in Thailand.

[maxcorrigan]

9 hours ago, PatOngo said:

The "Happy Zone" should be located at Pattaya police station, then the useless clowns will be where they are required.

Of course but RTP know it won't last long, the head Honcho uncle P himself no less, has just elected a new sheriff for Pattaya so a few more hare brained schemes are probably being mulled over right now!

[RigPig]

SORRY guys I can't be bothered reading all the comments all I can say is.......

 

HAPPY ZONES

 

I remember on my first came to Thailand for a visit I was taken to the "Happy House" in Bangkok, is that going to be the model?  It will work well in Pat's.....

 

Try making the punishment a deterant, if they can't aford it GREAT!!!

[Konaboy1]

happy is as happy does!

[Grubster]

8 hours ago, WhizBang said:

Happy Zones?   Seriously?  

 

And this from 'a top policeman'?   If this is the best they can come up with, god help us all.  Sadly, I think this IS the best they can come up with. 

 

It NEVER seems to occur to any of these numnuts that they should be out doing their job, policing.  They should be visible and be out enforcing, and seen to enforce, the law.   Forget about trying to track, or harrass, tourists, just go out and enforce the law, for both Thais and foreigners.   And put an end to all those tea money traffic stops.  All they do is make traffic worse and make people hate the cops even more.

I only disagree about the visible part, I think they should be undercover so the criminals don't know who they are.

[Grubster]

8 hours ago, johng said:

More costs passed onto the shop owners.

No doubt the very expensive city wide CCTV system is fully functioning too.

selectively

[Inepto Cracy]

Bringing happiness to Thai people, said some hi so chap in Bangkok recently. Happy Zones....alright lets get it on Patsy?

[cncltd1973]

12 hours ago, z42 said:

Pattaya already has enough happy zones for pretty much any type of person who likes any type of sin.

Just try and police it better, do it by the book and stop the randomly awful and ineffective crackdowns.

Also would be a good idea to dish out heavy penalties to those who rob and attack tourists be it in a subtle or very public way.

I read in the BP today that a man was sentenced to 23 years for robbery and assault (and is almost certainly innocent). If I remember correctly a couple of ladyboys attacked a foreign expat with a brick last year, robbed him also and when caught did only get a 500 baht fine.

As always, some kind of standardization is desperately needed.  And that goes for police misconduct too as there are many reports of that every month.

I won't hold my breath though....

I was hoping a 'happy zone' would be family friendly block that is zoned differently than the red light blocks. But it sounds like it's just a zone that is more policed. So the plan is, Patts will have soft red light zones, and hellfire red light zones.

What happened to all the TAT talk on making Patts family friendly.,..

[jimstar1]

Oh Happy Happy Times are Cumimg  how long before hit Chiang Mai Be hard to Make it Happy again with all the happy Curruption  going Berserk

[rogeroc]

Quite amazing the amount of negativity in this thread. The Police know there is a problem, they are looking at methods of solving it. Great good for them it is definitely a step in the right direction. I really think the concept could work if it is actioned well, it makes sense to target the biggest problem areas first.

[balo]

Happy is the most famous English word in Thailand.  Can make you happy? Happy with me?

 

Happy ending in the Happy Zones will be a big hit. 

[Destiny1990]

 

 

[DoctorG]

This is just a recycled (failed) idea.

From TVF Sept.29  2012.

 

Walking Street declared Pattaya’s first Tourist “Safety Zone”

PATTAYA:--Pattaya’s iconic adult entertainment zone, Walking Street, has officially been declared as a Tourist “Safety Zone”.

[cracker1]

So the Top Cop has explained what he wants all business people to do about the problem, but no where in the report does he detail what his police personal will do ?

Same as before this new initiative !

[redogi]

Are the "happy zones"  going to replace the "tourist zones" or the "Safe Zones" and what happened to our boys on bikes in their orange shirts to make the tourists feel safe, how many more times are they going try selling use the same old line. time for a yawn , then start laughing !! what a bunch of self serving ego driven idiots the thai police force are.

[spiroinusa1]

I worked in street crime, NYCPD. Put out decoys with backup. Decoys with gold chains, easy bag grabs, etc. Backup of decoys got them every time. We cleaned up neighborhoods in Manhattan experiencing this type of stuff in no time. I live up North and I have seen with my own eyes what Narcotic Swat Teams do to smugglers. The Thai police when they put their minds to it are very effective..

[kcpattaya]

Just make Pattaya Beach Road a "Happy Zone" and 50% of the problems are solved.
Unfortunately since many years nothing major has been done around there...

[Johnice]

20 hours ago, WhizBang said:

Happy Zones?   Seriously?  

 

And this from 'a top policeman'?   If this is the best they can come up with, god help us all.  Sadly, I think this IS the best they can come up with. 

 

It NEVER seems to occur to any of these numnuts that they should be out doing their job, policing.  They should be visible and be out enforcing, and seen to enforce, the law.   Forget about trying to track, or harrass, tourists, just go out and enforce the law, for both Thais and foreigners.   And put an end to all those tea money traffic stops.  All they do is make traffic worse and make people hate the cops even more.

So, let me get this straight, if I want to wear my gold necklace, I should keep it in my pocket until I get to the "Safe Zone" Walking Street?? Then wear it?? Damn, you can't make this stuff up.