“The next step would be some sort of electronic tracking device”.
— Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul
Thailand is facing a downturn in foreign tourism, after a coup earlier this year and the still-unsolved murder of two British backpackers on the island of Koh Tao three weeks ago. But tourism minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul’s attempts at reassuring prospective tourists seem more likely to dissuade travellers from visiting the country.
In a syndicated interview with the Reuters news agency today, she said that, in future, tourists “will be given a wristband with a serial number”, and that visitors would be assigned a local Thai “buddy”, in the interests of safety. If this seems like excessive monitoring of vistors, her next proposal takes the Big Brother surveillance approach even further: “The next step would be some sort of electronic tracking device, but this has not yet been discussed in detail.”
Previous quotes of the day: Prayut Chan-o-cha claimed that he orchestrated the coup because “we respect democracy”, Prayut dismissed criticism surrounding the GT200, an Election Commissioner agued against an election, hypocrisy from Suthep Thaugsuban, a yellow-shirt leader said that Thailand should be more like North Korea, the Information and Communication Technology Minister openly admitted to violating the Computer Crime Act, and a Ministry of Culture official patronised Thai filmgoers.
— Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul
Thailand is facing a downturn in foreign tourism, after a coup earlier this year and the still-unsolved murder of two British backpackers on the island of Koh Tao three weeks ago. But tourism minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul’s attempts at reassuring prospective tourists seem more likely to dissuade travellers from visiting the country.
In a syndicated interview with the Reuters news agency today, she said that, in future, tourists “will be given a wristband with a serial number”, and that visitors would be assigned a local Thai “buddy”, in the interests of safety. If this seems like excessive monitoring of vistors, her next proposal takes the Big Brother surveillance approach even further: “The next step would be some sort of electronic tracking device, but this has not yet been discussed in detail.”
Previous quotes of the day: Prayut Chan-o-cha claimed that he orchestrated the coup because “we respect democracy”, Prayut dismissed criticism surrounding the GT200, an Election Commissioner agued against an election, hypocrisy from Suthep Thaugsuban, a yellow-shirt leader said that Thailand should be more like North Korea, the Information and Communication Technology Minister openly admitted to violating the Computer Crime Act, and a Ministry of Culture official patronised Thai filmgoers.
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