It is customary at the beginning of most public meetings and government hearings for attendees to be given the ?minutes? of the earlier get-together.

This is typically done to remind those attending of the previous matters discussed, in order to perhaps begin where they left off or check on the progress.

The minutes are rarely scrutinised or disputed as they are - by definition - supposed to be an accurate and neutral documentation of the previous meeting.

The tri-monthly Phuket Honorary Consul Meeting held on the 31 August was, as well as being an opportunity for the different hon cons of Phuket to discuss their grievances and observations of the last three months, also supposed to be a special occasion for the visiting Austrian Ambassador, Dr Johannes Peterlik to deliver a ?Thailand and Austria ? partners in progress? speech.

But barely had the meeting been officially opened by Governor of Phuket, Tri Akradecha, had German Hon Con, Dirk Naumann, raised his hand to address the Governor and the room.

Mr Naumann is well known among the expat community and among his fellow consuls as being perhaps the most outspoken and by extension ?frustrated? of consuls and so it was with an element of surprise that after objecting to the accuracy of the previous meeting?s minutes by denouncing them as not representative, he then invited other consulates to give information as to why they weren?t.

So it was after a few awkward seconds that Australian Hon Con, Larry Cunnigham, while sporting a rather fetching T-Shirt (see box on p.12) cleared his throat and addressed the room.

He said, ?The minutes of the previous meeting do not focus on the relevant points raised and make no mention of jet skis at all. As everybody knows I have spoken in depth about jet ski incidents before and everybody knows that the scams are a regular occurrence on the island, in fact we all (Hon Cons) make these points, but no details are ever given in the minutes. This gives the impression that everything is ok, but everything is not ok.?

Gov Tri, in his characteristically calm and appeasing voice replied that the points would be amended to the minutes and that, as previously stated, he would prepare a document listing Jet Ski violations and distribute them so that the operators are aware that if they are found to contravene any of these, they will have their jet ski licences cancelled.

Mr Naumann suggested that a policy of minutes-checking should be implemented, before they are made official in order that they may be accurately discussed.

So being without a true and accurate acknowledgement of the past, the beginning of the present and future proceedings made its jittery start.

The meeting therefore began amidst an unprecedented air of pessimism and dissatisfaction. Perhaps as a result of this it was refreshing to see representatives, who had previously remained rather refrained, become active in their dissatisfaction.

In fact it was ?action?, and the reactions caused by the perceived lack of it, that characterised the whole meeting. All the while, Dr Peterlik remained quiet yet attentive sitting by the side of the Governor.
After a brief preamble of thanks to the Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong, Martin Carpenter, the British Consul in Phuket, told him that, ?My concerns still lies with the way victims are sometimes interviewed and made to feel like they are more responsible than they actually are.?

Mr Carpenter referenced a recent case involving a British woman who had visited Patong police station to state that she had been raped.

?According to Thai law,? began Mr Carpenter, ?Any female person who has been sexually assaulted or raped must be interviewed by a woman, but this was not done and is in fact rarely done.?

Commander Pekad responded by saying that the lack of female police officers had already been acknowledged and that he had already put in the request for more female officers with the head of Police in Bangkok but was still waiting.

Mr Carpenter then seized upon the opportunity to ask the Commander whether he thought the Phuket Police was understaffed based on his assumption that the actual numbers of Phuket residents far exceeded the official numbers gained from the recently-carried out census of 420,000. He made the point that the services were severely under-budgeted and a direct result of this was that the police among other emergency services were struggling to perform to a satisfactory level.

Both Gov. Tri and Commander Pekad responded that requests for more budget allocation had already been made and that his comments would be taken into consideration.

And so the well established formula was set: Question posed. Answer given. Action to be discussed.

Perhaps emboldened by his consul comrade?s comments, Dutch Consul Seven Smulders also decided that today was his day to make a very dramatic and well-rehearsed speech that contained poignant pauses while his words were translated into Thai and points allowed to resonate.

?In the past it has often fallen to Larry {Cunningham) or Dirk {Naumann} to make interventions in these meetings but Mr Governor I would like you to know that they do not stand alone in their efforts.?

After a brief pause, he continued, ?On the contrary, more Hon Cons share their frustrations and concerns and I am one of them.

?There are around 90,000 Dutch visitors to Phuket every year, most of them have no problems, however some of them do, with tuk tuks and jet skis and passports being confiscated etc. I and the Dutch Ambassador have been waiting to see if these problems are rectified before putting up travel advice to warn of these problems, but still these problems have not been resolved to a satisfactory level.?

Mr Smulders ended by saying that it was merely his intention to improve Phuket, ?We all love Phuket, are proud of Phuket and want to make it a better place that?s all.?

Mr Naumann continued Mr Smulder?s previous thread of thought that if no action on behalf of the government is seen to take place, then it will be up to others to warn to try to force a change and this will have its own ramifications, some not at all positive.

He said that in the two weeks since the Wir Retten Ihren Urlaub (We save your holiday) documentary on water pollution problems in Phuket had aired on German TV screens in August 16, he had received 33 emails from German nationals cancelling their holidays.

He also mentioned an incident involving a German national almost being beaten to death by Patong tuk tuk drivers over a 100 baht fare dispute on 25 August.

?How can a tourist island, how can we allow the law to be taken into the hands of a mob? If I have a dispute over a 100,000 baht or a million baht bill I go to the police station or lodge a complaint, but in Phuket apparently tuk tuk drivers can take the law into their own hands, but where does this stop? This will destroy this society, if I am owed 5 baht, can I just go and shoot someone?? asked Mr Naumann.

A rhetorical question perhaps, but one that certainly raised questions that needed to be answered over how the latest incident, where, because of poor quality CCTV footage and an unwillingness for anybody to stand witness and identify the tuk tuk drivers, can, as-of-yet go unpunished.

?It was over 100 baht, in Bangkok an 800 metre taxi ride costs about 14 baht, but in Phuket it costs much more: 200 baht, and even perhaps a life, how can this be? Isn?t it time to clamp down seriously on these thugs? We cannot allow this to continue? This is your job,? demanded Mr Naumann of Commander Pekad.

Mr Naumann also raised objection to only being informed about the incident six days after it happened, which is against the agreement that a Hon Con should be informed whenever a foreigner is involved in a serious incident as soon as possible.

Commander Pekad responded by saying that the case was still being investigated and that he sought his understanding. For the first of many times in the meeting, he also introduced the rather curious concept or explanation of events as being caused by ?emotions? and was not necessarily anything to do with the law or lack of enforcement.

Mr Cunningham pressed on and said that he had received many complaints concerning aggressive and misbehaving Tuk Tuk drivers from Australian citizens of late and, at least to him, such incidents seemed to be increasing in number.

It was Mr Cunnigham?s time to pose a rhetorical question, but this time he actually answered it as well, ?How can this be? This is because they have power and they are protected.?

Information or opinion as by whom they were protected was not offered, so the statement hung in the air for a little while, before he finished his address to Commander Pekad.

?This is the only way they can continue. Why have there been so many assaults by Tuk Tuk drivers recently?? asked Mr Cunnigham, but this time, he waited for an answer.

The response given by Commander Pekad drew a laugh from many of the Thai attendees in the room, ?I don?t know about that,? said Commander Pekad, ?Since I?ve been in this role (two years) there have always been around the same amount.?

Time was pressing on and soon the meeting would have to be brought to a close, so when the Ambassador of Austria was finally given his opportunity to speak, it quickly became apparent that his ?Thailand and Austria ? partners in progress? speech? would have to wait for another time.

He began solemnly and earnestly and in doing so managed to articulate the thoughts and impassioned complaints of the proceedings into a stark warning.

?The Thai authorities should know that the majority of the Hon Cons are working on a voluntary basis, so they should value their contributions and their thoughts,? Dr Peterlik began.

?We, at the Austrian Embassy, have been watching this situation in Phuket for about 1.5 years now and are, as a number of EU countries are, concerned with the goings-on in Phuket.?

Dr Peterlik made the point that many of the representatives present on that day were from EU nations and were as a union therefore stood together, and if one had a complaint then it is seriously considered, not only by the nation but also by the EU as a whole. He made the point that trust therefore was essential in the future of Thai-EU relations.

?We ask all of our citizens to apply by the rules and laws of Thailand when they are in your country and our consuls are asked to provide help and assistance whenever necessary.

?But we have to rely on the leadership of your government and your authorities, we are all trying to improve tourism, but if we can?t rely on the Thai government?s leadership then we will be forced to, specifically in Phuket and the cases of tuk tuks - the national symbol of Thailand - to issue warnings and highlight the possible dangers of using them on not only Austria?s travel advice, but many of EU nations?.?

Dr Peterlik said, echoing the thoughts of many of the consuls that, ?Discussing these problems are good, but these can only be successful if they are implemented in practice. I have been waiting for implementation for 1.5 years already, we have not issued travel advice yet, but again if the situation is not remedied, we will have to. We must protect our citizens abroad, so with your respect I hope we can move forward.?

Unfortunately Dr Peterlik must have had a prior engagement, as, after his last point, he had to leave and could not wait around to hear the Governor?s response. Not to worry, I?m sure an accurate record of the minutes of the meeting can be sent to the Austrian Ambassador.

The Governor said that all issues raised would be considered and set the next meeting for the 24 November.