Whacky wristband plan shot down

BANGKOK Tourism experts advise the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to find better ways to tighten security for tourists in Thailand than asking them to wear wristbands.
Top travel industry executives said the project to tag tourists was doomed to failure and ridicule. They encouraged authorities to tighten police patrols, add more CCTVs and enforce the law to rid resorts of criminal mafia-like influences.
Tourism Council of Thailand vice president, Pornthip Hirunkate, told TTR Weekly that the council understands what the tourism ministry was trying to do, but the policy was impractical and essentially flawed.
inside no 2“Asking tourists to wear wristbands is not a good policy…the measure will make tourists uncomfortable…it also treats tourists as if they are criminals and could violate their civil rights and freedom.
“When tourists travel, they want to relax …the measure will force them to be uneasy… tourists may not want to wear wristbands…also how can we guarantee safety just because of some information imbedded on a band… it could even highlight tourists as targets and hackers might find a way to steal identity information.”
She then advised the ministry to fund the installation of more CCTV (video surveillance) and street and beach lighting for all areas as well as cooperate with local authority to raise awareness of safety and security measure.
Association of Thai Travel Agents president, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, challenged: “Whether the news had any credibility? We need more details.”
“Tourists will not wear wristbands with ID tags when travelling…the measure instead implies it is not safe to travel in Thailand,” he told TTR.
“It will give a negative impact…tourists will shift to travel in other destinations where they feel more at ease.”
Thai Hotels Association president, Surapong Techaruvichit, declined comment.
He was an exception as the majority of tour operators and hoteliers were aghast by the proposal. They have reason to be as no country in the Asia Pacific has felt the need to introduce such measures to make tourists feel safe. It sends a very negative message to visitors and causes considerable ridicule for the people who suggested it.
The tourism ministry said it plans to give tourists wristbands carrying their personal details, mainly in response to the scrutiny over visitor safety following the murder of two British holidaymakers on Tao Island, last month.
Under the scheme hotels will distribute the wristbands to visitors at check-in. It will have a serial number that matches their ID and shows the contact details of the resort they are staying in so that if they are out partying late and, for example and get drunk or lost, they can be easily assisted, the tourism minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, told Reuters earlier this week. She also was quoted saying she would introduce a buddy system that would assign “minders” to tourists to keep an eye on them.
Responses from tourists and industry executives said it was the kind of proposal you would expect of North Korea, not a leading tourist destination such as Thailand.
TTR Weekly fielded questions to the Department of Tourism and the Minster of Tourism and Sports, but was told officials would not respond until next week as they are too busy attending meetings.
They were happy to make the original announcement possibly in the misplaced belief that it would indicate decisive and positive action was being taken in the wake of the murder of two British tourists.
They are not so keen to answer questions on how the project will be managed or whether there are any precedents in worldwide tourism to support such a bizarre plan as tagging tourists.

sourced:ttrweekly.com