Sailor influx prompts Phuket ladyboy crackdown
About 3,000 US marines will be sailing into Phuket this week aboard
the USS Bonhomme.
PHUKET: In advance of the arrival of two more US Navy ships full of
marines ready for R&R in Phuket this week, Kathu Police are cracking
down on criminal gangs of ladyboys.
Kathu Police Commander Grissak Songmoonnark said last time a large
contingent of US Navy sailors were in Phuket around 80 ladyboys were
arrested for petty crime.
About half of them came to the island from Pattaya with the intention
of robbing the Americans, Col Grissak said.
Police would be checking their ID and employment cards, he said. Those
who didn=92t have the right papers =93would have problems=94.
Tomorrow, 300 US Navy Marines will arrive aboard the USS Ingraham.
On Thursday they will be joined by around 3,000 more aboard the USS
Bonhomme Richard.
The crew have been training in East Timor and have been on board their
ship for the past month in advance of their Phuket visit.
Douglas H Robinson, chief of Naval Security Force Protection
Detachment, met with Col Grissak and representatives from around 60
Patong businesses in Kathu Police Station to discuss the upcoming
visit.
Only 2,500 marines would be allowed off the ships on any given day, Mr
Robinson said.
Atchaa Khamlo
Phuket Gazette |