Call for better security
Senior representatives of Thai tourism have been told that the industry needs to upgrade its security standards.
Security consultant Vic Plessner of the Bangkok-based VHP Group told the Pacific Asia Travel Association's Thailand Chapter AGM that hotel security staff should hold monthly breakfast meetings to exchange insights. "In Thailand, hotel guards are often treated like janitors and not given the training and authority to do their jobs properly," he said. Plessner, a 38-year security veteran who moved from the US to Thailand last year, said that while the conflict in the South seemed to be geographically contained, the local carnage sullied the national image of Thailand and affected people's decisions about whether to visit the country. He said a huge PR effort was needed and that it was counter-productive for senior government members to say the country could expect more violence. Delegates were also informed about a new tourism destination, the 200 underground caves of Viengxay in Laos. The caves were used as an underground city by Laotian Communists fleeing persistent American bombing. Separately, training workshops on how businesses and governments can harness the power of satellite communications were conducted this week in the Philippines and Thailand by Telenor Satellite Services, a subsidiary of Telenor of Norway, and global satellite operator Inmarsat.
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