Police Chief and District Chief of Koh Phangan Island finally being transfered
Koh Phangan’s chief of police was finally transferred immediately to 8th Regional Police Bureau yesterday following his failure to curb rising crime on the island of madness, formerly also known as Koh Phangan Paradise Island.
Pol Col Wutichai Hanhabun will work at the bureau for 120 days or until an inquiry team finishes a disciplinary investigation, according to an order signed by bureau chief Tani Tawitsri, who oversees the South of Thailand.
Pol Lt-Gen Tani decided to take harsh action against Koh Phangan’s police chief after a number of complaints about tourists’ safety and alleged rifts among state agencies.
Surat Thani governor Vinai Buapradit had said earlier that he was very much disappointed with Koh Phangan police and also Koh Phangan’s district chief (Nai Amphoe) over their passive crackdown on island’s crimes. He is also preparing to transfer the district chief (Nai Amphoe) out of the area.
Local Koh Phangan Police officers have more than often allegedly failed to arrest suspects in murder cases, including the fatal shooting of a former kamnan of tambon Koh Phangan and the murder of an Israeli Tourists last year in April 2007. Chief suspects in that murder case were a gang of local Thai teenagers, including the son of a local Koh Phangan politician, but so far no progress at all has been shown by local Koh Phangan police forces. Furthermore a foreign female tourist has been recently raped at the Full Moon Party. Finally Koh Phangan Police officers were also accused of taking bribes from foreign tourists in exchange for not arresting them for marijuana possession.
The latest case involving Koh Phangan tourists is the disappearance of Daniel Christian Hall, or Danny Hall, a British national who joined a full moon party on the island of madness on Feb 24th 2008. The 35-year-old Briton was last seen at the Back Yard Pub Hadrin Beach on Feb 25th 2008 at midnight, according to a press release circulated by a group of his friends. The last known contact was a phone call to his friend at 2am on Feb 26th 2008.
Danny Hall had stayed at Leam Son 2 bungalows on Haad Yao beach since Feb 16. He had never returned to his bungalow to collect his clothes, bag or guitar. Mr Hall’s family and friends have been closely coordinating with British and Thai authorities to find him. Mr Hall has travelled extensively and was interested in Thai boxing. He graduated frome University of Birmingham with an honours degree in history.
“He arranged to meet a friend in Bangkok to pick up some stuff after the full moon party but didn’t show up,” said the press release.
The group also urged Thai authorities to look into safety problems of tourists joining Koh Phangan’s world famous full moon party, furthermore also claiming that there were several reports of Caucasian males losing their lives in various ways during Feb 24-25 party period.
“It seems to be accepted common knowledge that Koh Phangan Island, some even call it the ‘island of madness’, has spiraled totally out of control and yet nothing appears to be done about it! What a disaster!”, the group further added.
I hope the new one are the nice heart and bring Phangan to the big change in the good way. No the island of madness. No drug. No corruption. No party over 2.00am.everybody follow the low then Phangan is the Dream Island for the local people too.
I hope the new one are the nice heart and bring Phangan to the big change in the good way. No the island of madness. No drug. No corruption. No party over 2.00am.everybody follow the low then Phangan is the Dream Island for the local people too.
The only way to stop the corruption on Koh Phangan is to clean the problem at every level – not just by removing a couple of island officials as the next one’s to replace them will do exactly the same as these one’s did!
Maybe bringing in the military is the solution as the island officials are totally corrupt, the police chiefs are corrupt, the policemen on the ground are corrupt, the big families are corrupt, the village leaders are corrupt, the people renting jetskis and motorbikes are corrupt and the latest corruption? … well, the cancelling of the Seatran Phangan to Koh Samui Ferry service by the owners of Big A supermarket by paying off the government officials in Surat Thani as they were losing business to Tesco & Big C on Koh Samui by people taking their cars over … this, as well as, Big A trying to transfer the Seatran Service to Donsak so Big A’s enemies at Raja Ferry lose customers! Well the greed of one business (Big A) now affects 12,000 residents on Koh Phangan who must now pay higher prices at the supermarkets here or go to the mainland which takes more time and money. This is not just about supermarkets – islanders can no longer take cars for servicing or maintenance to Samui, they cannot deliver heavy vehicles for construction purposes etc etc … this corruption now has an impact at every level. This is a disgrace and big dis-respect to the islanders by the owners of Big A and everyone living on Koh Phangan should do something about this corruption as they are the ones who lose out in the end! The best you can do is DO NOT SHOP AT BIG A! Koh Phangan has disgraced itself so much over the years and unless this stops the island and the islanders will all suffer …as is being proven now with far less tourism than in previous years …. the island tourism has been destroyed so what next? Big Businesses on Koh Phangan to destroy its own Islanders?… My God, will any of you ever learn????
The best advice for now is TO STOP TO SHOP AT BIG A SUPERMARKET and when they open their own BIG C supermarket shop on Phangan in a few months, then go and shop at new Tesco (to be opened soon) on Phangan instead!!!!
i believe that if KPG weren’t corrupt then it wouldn’t be the island we all know and love! For so many years people seem to have been attracted to the island where you can smoke dope, drink beers and if you want to party like its your last party ever.. party!
Even thought there are laws we all seem to think that they don’t really count on KPG. We like to think we make our own laws. (at least thats how people/I seemed to live life, I can hear people saying that I didn’t live life properly, I didn’t accept the local values and customs. But people brealk the law all over the world . Its the fact it is often done so blatantly on KPG.
Now I’m no big party animal and I didn’t go to full moons and take drugs, but I could have done and like so many people who do appreciate the dangers involved in such activity, but people arer living a tropical paradise dream..
OK the type of person visiting KPG may have changed their ‘packaging’in the last ten years but we are all after the same thing.. the idilic paradise that KPG presents to the traveller/tourist on arrival. Lets face it, you spend a week or two here and it is idiilic, its only when you start to look at the structure and you realize there is more than meets the eye.
I once met a girl that said she didn’t like it because it was like the film set of the film the beach, I reminded her the beach was written and based on a place that already existed, that infat it was a product of the whole movement of travelling and that tourism was dubbed as as uncool. Who wants to be a tourist when you could be a traveller.
KPG is a place people can travel too now for A week or two. What difference does that make to someone who has been away for a year and spends a week or two on the island? People that visit anywhere for a short period of time want to make the most of it, stay up late and party, it happens everywhere. If the island were to get its bohemian long termers bakc then they couldn’t exist because they all enjoy cheap dope, they don’t want t spend shit loads on beer, get drunk and make out, they were there because of the unlawfullness, they just didn;t get caught so much…
I lived on KPG in 2003 for a year. Loved and hated it. At the end of the day everywhere is just some where to live. I carry KPG in my heart and wherever I am I know I can shut my eyes and go back to lolling around on that little island, walking to waterfalls, cooking food at home that has definately cost me more than going to eat in one of the resteraunts. Listening to the waves crash on the shore, to the jungle music the animals would make at night, the stars, the sawadee krap you’d hear many times..Looking across Chaloklaam Bay at 6am and waiting to go round to Bottle Beach on days that we weren’t teaching. I have friends that have business’s there now and I love that they are there ad doing well.
I know Im ranting and in so many ways I haven’t really followed a line of thought but that s a few beers for you!
Yes it would be nice if the island wasn’t corrupt but would it be the island as we all know it?
Peace
I must speak up now! Big A is a big family and they give so many people work. So I will keep going shopping there! And if Tesco is there, competition is good for business. And for the corruption: ‘Koh Phangan is not Thailand!!!’ So the famelies run the show here. The cops are just ‘helping’ them. Who doesn’t like corruption is in the wrong country!!!!! I love to live here even if I don’t party. I’m a daytimer. The people are beautifull where I live. I don’t know about Had Rin. To me everybody is nice. But it helps when you are married with an Islander.The police works for the rich famelies all over the country, and that goes up to the gouverment. Yes that’s the way I like it. PEACE
ask someone from Kohphangan about the owners of Big A and the amount of people they have helped throughout the years. you might just change your opinion.
wait and see how many KOHPHANGAN people are to be employed by Big C and Tesco – a big fat 0!
Seatran cancelling there Samui car ferry service has nothing to do with BIG A SUPERMARKET, and by the way I happen to like BIG A SUPERMARKET and will keep on shopping there. They are the only professional wholesaler / supermarket on Koh Pha Ngan. Good luck to them.
Much as I welcome Tesco, please remember that Tesco, Big C, etc have no conscience at all about screwing the opposition, as well as there suppliers by whatever means necessary. Good luck to Big A, he is certainly is no worse than Tesco. Given half a chance Tesco will create a monopoly and shaft shaft us all.
The only way to stop the corruption on Koh Phangan is to clean the problem at every level – not just by removing a couple of island officials as the next one’s to replace them will do exactly the same as these one’s did!
Maybe bringing in the military is the solution as the island officials are totally corrupt, the police chiefs are corrupt, the policemen on the ground are corrupt, the big families are corrupt, the village leaders are corrupt, the people renting jetskis and motorbikes are corrupt and the latest corruption? … well, the cancelling of the Seatran Phangan to Koh Samui Ferry service by the owners of Big A supermarket by paying off the government officials in Surat Thani as they were losing business to Tesco & Big C on Koh Samui by people taking their cars over … this, as well as, Big A trying to transfer the Seatran Service to Donsak so Big A’s enemies at Raja Ferry lose customers! Well the greed of one business (Big A) now affects 12,000 residents on Koh Phangan who must now pay higher prices at the supermarkets here or go to the mainland which takes more time and money. This is not just about supermarkets – islanders can no longer take cars for servicing or maintenance to Samui, they cannot deliver heavy vehicles for construction purposes etc etc … this corruption now has an impact at every level. This is a disgrace and big dis-respect to the islanders by the owners of Big A and everyone living on Koh Phangan should do something about this corruption as they are the ones who lose out in the end! The best you can do is DO NOT SHOP AT BIG A! Koh Phangan has disgraced itself so much over the years and unless this stops the island and the islanders will all suffer …as is being proven now with far less tourism than in previous years …. the island tourism has been destroyed so what next? Big Businesses on Koh Phangan to destroy its own Islanders?… My God, will any of you ever learn????
The best advice for now is TO STOP TO SHOP AT BIG A SUPERMARKET and when they open their own BIG C supermarket shop on Phangan in a few months, then go and shop at new Tesco (to be opened soon) on Phangan instead!!!!
i believe that if KPG weren’t corrupt then it wouldn’t be the island we all know and love! For so many years people seem to have been attracted to the island where you can smoke dope, drink beers and if you want to party like its your last party ever.. party!
Even thought there are laws we all seem to think that they don’t really count on KPG. We like to think we make our own laws. (at least thats how people/I seemed to live life, I can hear people saying that I didn’t live life properly, I didn’t accept the local values and customs. But people brealk the law all over the world . Its the fact it is often done so blatantly on KPG.
Now I’m no big party animal and I didn’t go to full moons and take drugs, but I could have done and like so many people who do appreciate the dangers involved in such activity, but people arer living a tropical paradise dream..
OK the type of person visiting KPG may have changed their ‘packaging’in the last ten years but we are all after the same thing.. the idilic paradise that KPG presents to the traveller/tourist on arrival. Lets face it, you spend a week or two here and it is idiilic, its only when you start to look at the structure and you realize there is more than meets the eye.
I once met a girl that said she didn’t like it because it was like the film set of the film the beach, I reminded her the beach was written and based on a place that already existed, that infat it was a product of the whole movement of travelling and that tourism was dubbed as as uncool. Who wants to be a tourist when you could be a traveller.
KPG is a place people can travel too now for A week or two. What difference does that make to someone who has been away for a year and spends a week or two on the island? People that visit anywhere for a short period of time want to make the most of it, stay up late and party, it happens everywhere. If the island were to get its bohemian long termers bakc then they couldn’t exist because they all enjoy cheap dope, they don’t want t spend shit loads on beer, get drunk and make out, they were there because of the unlawfullness, they just didn;t get caught so much…
I lived on KPG in 2003 for a year. Loved and hated it. At the end of the day everywhere is just some where to live. I carry KPG in my heart and wherever I am I know I can shut my eyes and go back to lolling around on that little island, walking to waterfalls, cooking food at home that has definately cost me more than going to eat in one of the resteraunts. Listening to the waves crash on the shore, to the jungle music the animals would make at night, the stars, the sawadee krap you’d hear many times..Looking across Chaloklaam Bay at 6am and waiting to go round to Bottle Beach on days that we weren’t teaching. I have friends that have business’s there now and I love that they are there ad doing well.
I know Im ranting and in so many ways I haven’t really followed a line of thought but that s a few beers for you!
Yes it would be nice if the island wasn’t corrupt but would it be the island as we all know it?
Peace
I must speak up now! Big A is a big family and they give so many people work. So I will keep going shopping there! And if Tesco is there, competition is good for business. And for the corruption: ‘Koh Phangan is not Thailand!!!’ So the famelies run the show here. The cops are just ‘helping’ them. Who doesn’t like corruption is in the wrong country!!!!! I love to live here even if I don’t party. I’m a daytimer. The people are beautifull where I live. I don’t know about Had Rin. To me everybody is nice. But it helps when you are married with an Islander.The police works for the rich famelies all over the country, and that goes up to the gouverment. Yes that’s the way I like it. PEACE
ask someone from Kohphangan about the owners of Big A and the amount of people they have helped throughout the years. you might just change your opinion.
wait and see how many KOHPHANGAN people are to be employed by Big C and Tesco – a big fat 0!
Seatran cancelling there Samui car ferry service has nothing to do with BIG A SUPERMARKET, and by the way I happen to like BIG A SUPERMARKET and will keep on shopping there. They are the only professional wholesaler / supermarket on Koh Pha Ngan. Good luck to them.
Much as I welcome Tesco, please remember that Tesco, Big C, etc have no conscience at all about screwing the opposition, as well as there suppliers by whatever means necessary. Good luck to Big A, he is certainly is no worse than Tesco. Given half a chance Tesco will create a monopoly and shaft shaft us all.
No to tesco they are a parasite convenient i know so be sure to buy only products you cant get off a local supplier!
No to tesco they are a parasite convenient i know so be sure to buy only products you cant get off a local supplier!
Corruption in Thailand is one thing. But Koh Phangan is not even Thailand! Who doesn’t like it here is free to go. This is a free island for free people! I don’t like to party and live here in peace with the people I love. Big A is fantastic and gives so many people jobs. And for all who love the law so much:”Don’t be on the wrong place, at the wrong time!” The way the island is “corrupt-self-ruled” is just the way it is, was, allways will be! And that’s the way we should except it. Go to L.A., New York, anywhere the same game. If you just go for hollidays it’s ok, but if you live there and look behind the screen, you’ll know. So things are good the way they are, and who don’t like it: we have boats out of here. Some corrupt things are NOT nice; but others are. PEACE
Okay, so maybe you are all right, Big A do some good things on this island and employ many local people and have provided a service for many years … but it is a pain in the ass to have the car ferry cancelled to Koh Samui – don’t we all agree with that?
Good news -the ferry to Samui is now back on!!! And tesco opens tommorrow! happy times indeed! What was all the fuss about?
Corruption in Thailand is one thing. But Koh Phangan is not even Thailand! Who doesn’t like it here is free to go. This is a free island for free people! I don’t like to party and live here in peace with the people I love. Big A is fantastic and gives so many people jobs. And for all who love the law so much:”Don’t be on the wrong place, at the wrong time!” The way the island is “corrupt-self-ruled” is just the way it is, was, allways will be! And that’s the way we should except it. Go to L.A., New York, anywhere the same game. If you just go for hollidays it’s ok, but if you live there and look behind the screen, you’ll know. So things are good the way they are, and who don’t like it: we have boats out of here. Some corrupt things are NOT nice; but others are. PEACE
Okay, so maybe you are all right, Big A do some good things on this island and employ many local people and have provided a service for many years … but it is a pain in the ass to have the car ferry cancelled to Koh Samui – don’t we all agree with that?
Good news -the ferry to Samui is now back on!!! And tesco opens tommorrow! happy times indeed! What was all the fuss about?