Female tourists in Phuket to get safety whistles

Post by **buksida** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:47 pm

Tourism Ministry's action comes 2 days after woman killed in broad daylight

Female tourists visiting the Thai island of Phuket will be given whistles to sound in case of an emergency, the Tourism Ministry said Monday, two days after the murder of a Swedish woman in broad daylight.

The whistles are part of a campaign to increase security on Phuket, one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations, after the shocking killing of 27-year-old Hanna Charlotta Backlund of Sweden, said Tourism Minister Weerasak Kohsurat.

Backlund was stabbed to death Saturday while taking a walk on Mai Khao beach, on the northern tip of Phuket. Her attacker remains at large.

The safety whistles will be shaped like the symbol commonly used to designate women ? a circle above a cross ? and can be worn around the neck, said Phuket police Maj. Sathabhorn Sangaunsuk, who will be overseeing the project.

The ministry also plans to increase the presence of security guards around the island and publish safety manuals that will be distributed to tourists, the minister said in a statement.

Authorities said the plan was just devised and they did not immediately know when distribution of whistles would begin.

Source: MSNBC

Thought: Thats really tackling the problem, I guess any form of the "w" word is far beyond the Thai police force.

Post by **DawnHRD** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:05 pm

Utter tosh! The poor girl was killed in a secluded area & one would assume that she made some noise to try to get help. No-one heard/responded. What difference would a whistle make? Anyone hearing it would just think it was a car-park attendant or something. Another no-brains band-aid from the Thai authorities.

BTW, how much will it cost to make up this special design? And who gets the contract? Wouldn't going down the local Talat & buying a few cheapie whistles be just as (in)effective?

Post by **sandman67** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:49 pm

even simpler solution....

spend the whistle money on bribing the local plod to do their bloody jobs .... maybe patrolling beach areas would help .....

or is that just too bloody obvious....?

and just what good will a whistle do anyway....not unless its a special one that wakes up sleeping coppers 5 miles away in their air con office?

conclusion:

Stupid incompetent illogical and ineffective knee jerk government response to a "lazy incompetent bloody police" problem....and as usual stick the onus of addressing their law enforcement problems on farangs.

Post by **Vital Spark** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:31 pm

I totally agree with Dawn - a whistle wouldn't have helped this lass.

It's a dreadful thing to happen to anyone, and it could (and does, witness the young girl in Goa) happen anywhere in the world. I may be shot down in flames, but what the heck was she doing alone on a remote beach? She was only 27, probably beautiful, and blonde and possibly sunbathing in something skimpy - ON HER OWN.

I'm not in any way justifying what happened to her, but tourists should be made aware of the dangers of going off the beaten track alone. It's not safe! Here, or in other countries.

I sincerely hope that they find whoever did it, and don't frame some innocent man (or fake a dodgy suicide note) to wrap up the case.

VS

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:30 am

Agreed Vital Spark - its happened so many times in LOS when women have been wandering on their own. I wonder if they would do the same at home?
BTW that poor girl in Goa had actually been left behind by her 'hippy' mum in the care of a nice reliable young man! Where are these people coming from for g..ds sake!

Post by **The understudy** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:49 am

[quote="DawnHRD"]Utter tosh! The poor girl was killed in a secluded area & one would assume that she made some noise to try to get help. No-one heard/responded. What difference would a whistle make? Anyone hearing it would just think it was a car-park attendant or something. Another no-brains band-aid from the Thai authorities.

BTW, how much will it cost to make up this special design? And who gets the contract? Wouldn't going down the local Talat & buying a few cheapie whistles be just as (in)effective?

[/quote]

Sandman I tatally agree with you. Those Money spent on them whistles should be better off paying the local Cops a bit more so they can do their Jobs they suppose to do. those local polititians are so over consumed with maximising their wealth and deal with such very important Problems with knee Jerk decisions or their in their make believe that such fixes could solve the problems!!!

Your's The understudy!!!

Post by **DawnHRD** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:54 am

VS, she was an extremely pretty girl and what she was wearing depends on which report you read. Two I've read have said a one-piece costume, one said a bikini & the last said (quoted from her friend who had just gone to buy water when it happened) that she was sunbathing topless & that they often sunbathed topless when they were in a secluded area. Assuming that report is true (could one piece mean one piece of her bikini?), I would have thought that a secluded or deserted area is the most dangerous place to sunbathe topless?

Of course, what she was wearing shouldn't have been a reason for or factor in her death. Of course she should have been left alone, even if naked. But sadly, the world isn't like that & people do need to use common sense regarding their actions, particularly abroad.
Poor girl. As for the one in Goa, Mags, the Mum should be charged with neglect IMO.

Post by **sandman67** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:43 pm

seems they caught the little turd who did it.....

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/03 ... 068622.php

he says he was "suffering family stress".....funny because when I saw the arrest on the news early this morning he was grinning and mugging to the news cameras....didn't seem either depressed or upset to me.

Post by **Name Taken** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:56 pm

DawnHRD wrote:Utter tosh! The poor girl was killed in a secluded area & one would assume that she made some noise to try to get help. No-one heard/responded. What difference would a whistle make? Anyone hearing it would just think it was a car-park attendant or something. Another no-brains band-aid from the Thai authorities.

BTW, how much will it cost to make up this special design? And who gets the contract? Wouldn't going down the local Talat & buying a few cheapie whistles be just as (in)effective?

It just goes to show that most thai's don't have any common sense at all.
This is like the fourth or fifth week in a row that a farang(foreigner) has been killed in Thailand isn't it?
Thailand is a mess.

Post by **lomuamart** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:20 pm

Give me a little break here, but how can anyone check for certain that a Thai national has been incarcerated for 100 years or had the big needle?
The police clear things up, I'm sure they get their man.

Post by **DawnHRD** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:43 am

sandman67 wrote:seems they caught the little turd who did it.....

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/03 ... 068622.php

he says he was "suffering family stress".....funny because when I saw the arrest on the news early this morning he was grinning and mugging to the news cameras....didn't seem either depressed or upset to me.

...and the 100,000bt reward for his capture will be paid to his family (wife & father if I remember rightly). Reason to grin - whether innocent or guilty?

Post by **redzonerocker** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:55 am

back to the subject of whistles for females,

if a woman was being attacked & drew attention with her whistle, how many people would intervene if her attacker was wielding a machete??

Post by **sandman67** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:55 pm

interesting question Red......

personally, and Im not puffing my chest up, I would look about for a handy cudgel and yes....if I could find something fast I would intervene. Even shouting OI at em will usually stop them and make them think about the fact theres now at least one witness.

When I lived in London one of the lads who worked for me took out two knife armed muggers that were trying to rob a commuter near Vauxhall tube. He wasnt a big bloke at all....he just saw what was the right thing to do and did it.

My boss at the time told me he was stupid and said I should give him a telling off in front of the other staff....I took the lad out for a steak dinner and made sure he got light duties while his hand healed up. The Director goave him the staff commendation award that year. I was proud of him.

You hear a cry for help you help.....thats how I was brought up.

One of the main points about whistles tho is that on a seashore, where its windy, the noise may get "blown away". They are about as much use here, given Thai peoples propensity for sitting by and watching, as a chocolate fireguard.

They are also no substitute for what should have been the outcome of the latest in a line of beach attacks..... beach patrols by police that are doing their jobs as opposed to sod all.

The minister should have publically shaken the local police chief by the scruff of his neck or sacked him.....but no....we will just put the onus on the tourists...after all TIT

And paying the bounty to this scum's family.....

rewarding murder...or again is that too bloody obvious?

Post by **huahinsimon** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:01 pm

Screw the whistles. All females at beach resorts, bungalows, camping etc. should be issued a can of mace by the management. Return the unused can or be billed for it. All cans used in self defense are gratis.

HHS

PS now you know why the Muslims cover women up, the men of that faith lack selfcontrol.

Post by **sandman67** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:32 pm

HHS - nice idea mate but one problem

take a can of mace down to the beach and let fly and see what happens.....have a bowl of water ready for when the mace blows back into your face.

Mace is only reliable in no wind environments....otherwise it can equally blind the user as the attacker. Ask a British bobby......

The only effective redress to the sebeach attacks is beach partols.....they do it in Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria.....so why not here.

Ah yes...I forgot TIT.