Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak comes across as a man of conviction. The 61-year-old has come a long way since embarking on a political career which began at the Interior Ministry in 1977. He was deputy governor of Ang Thong and Suphan Buri and governor of Suphan Buri for seven years before taking the ministerial job in April.
Of the numerous issues Somsak is accountable for, tourism revenue is probably the top priority. He is confident the government's 2.2 trillion baht tourism revenue target will be met, thanks to an expected 30 million tourists in 2015.
"The tourism segment is still growing and surely we will reach the target," he said. "The goal focuses on quantity, but I will also focus on the quality.
"I believe tourist safety is equally important. Safety for tourists relates to their confidence to visit our Kingdom. I know that safety is very important because when I was a provincial governor, I worked closely with local police and authorities to manage issues about crime like violent attacks, rapes and robberies on visitors.
"Safety issues for tourists at the national level has to involve many parties that work closely because it involves the lives and assets of people who come to visit us."
What is your action plan for tourist safety?
After closely studying the legal system, I have begun talks with the Courts of Justice, which are well versed in cases related to tourists. Fast action is crucial to tourists because they have limited time [to stay in the Kingdom].
It is fortunate that the secretary-general of the Courts of Justice, Virat Chinvinitkul, who used to be a chief judge in provincial courts in major tourism cities, understands the necessity of swift action.
We also discussed the possibility of having a court open after regular office hours for tourist-related cases or related agencies to particularly work on tourist cases, which is more likely to be launched in major tourism cities in the near future.
Then I also had a meeting with the Royal Thai Police chief Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew who also gives priority to tourist safety. His policy speaks directly to my heart. Lastly I will hold a meeting with the Office of the Attorney-General. If the three parties all agree with the idea of setting up a court for tourist cases, then we can start our work by signing an MoU [memorandum of understanding].
How difficult do you believe it will be to set up a tourist court?
Setting up a court will require the support of parliament to pass a law. This might be a long-term plan because the process takes time. It is likely to happen. I am open to possible options to speed up the process. We also think that a new justice system for tourists should not be limited only to foreigners, but also open to Thai tourists because they can be victims as well.
When do you hope to make this a reality?
I want to make it happen as soon as possible because this is a policy issue that has to be expedited to address a pressing problem. We have to make it clear and announce it fast so that those who execute it can move fast too. If we are slow even for a day, it means more cases will add to this dilemma.
In the meantime, are there other steps you can take to address this issue?
I also talked to the Tourist Police Division and found that although they can catch criminals, they don't have the authority to question suspects in a case, which is the duty of local police. This can lead to a language barrier.
I raised this issue with the police chief and asked him to find solutions. In my opinion, if the whole justice process from the beginning until the end moves fast, then everything can end quick too.
What are a few of the goals you have set for yourself?
Once I started my work, I have been counting down my working days because I know I have limited time. So I look at the calendar and lay out what I want to see happen within my term. Apart from addressing tourist safety, other things involve reorganising and re-engineering our ministerial agencies. We always receive complaints from people about how slow we are.
Please give us an example.
Our sports associations keep complaining about the snail's speed of our payment process with the Sport Authority of Thailand, while those in the tourism industry express dissatisfaction towards the Department of Tourism about the shortage of guides.
So we seriously need to reorganise and re-engineer the our structure and let the agencies focus only on their core business. The Department of Tourism should consider outsourcing some of their workload to give them more time to concentrate on other pressing issues.
Do you feel you're in charge of two very different issues, or is there a connection between sports and tourism?
Not really. Tourism can be related to other areas, including education, agriculture and culture. In my opinion, tourism and sports are like two colours of fish which look beautiful when they swim in the same pond.
There are various sports which can attract tourists, such as the Wimbledon Championship in England which draws a huge international audience. So it's all related somehow.
How do you see the tourism sector so far?
Promising. As long as our country is peaceful, tourists will still come. Today we might benefit from conflicts among some countries in Asia and also the impact of uncertain weather which drives more [European] tourists to Thailand to find pleasant weather. Although it is low season, bookings are still high in places such as Pattaya and Phuket for this reason.
In addition, I conduct workshops to find solutions for problems which have occurred due to our tourism campaigns. For example, we promote that tourists can drive to Thailand, but once they enter our border they might drive illegally if they don't have an international licence.
One solution is to work with the Department of Land Transportation to open service counters at the immigration areas at borders and international airports so when tourists arrive, and they want to drive, they can apply for a temporary international licence together with insurance right away.
Do you often travel for leisure?
When I was a deputy governor, I drove my family around the country twice a year. So I can say that I have been to almost every province. I like driving. I don't have a favourite province because I like everywhere I go, whether it is mountains or beaches.
Tell us about your favourite sports.
I am not keen on playing any sports, but I like watching. The sport that I like today is American wrestling because of its intensive action.
When I was young, I liked watching boxing because at that time there weren't many choices for entertainment. We had only ngiw [Chinese opera], likay [traditional Thai performance] and boxing.
