“Tourists come to Pattaya for nature not sex” says police chief as British businessmen blamed

Pattaya’s police chief has hit back at claims that Pattaya is only about sex by saying that tourists come to the resort for its natural wonders.

But he seems determined to clear out the streetwalkers nonetheless.

Apichai Kroppetch was responding to a story in the UK’s Mirror newspaper that said Pattaya was the sex capital of the world and 1 in 5 of its female population were sex workers.

And he has suggested the damage to the Pattaya image came from British businessmen who have set up in the sex trade at the resort.

But while accepting there was a certain sex business he said that his men would be stepping up efforts to curb the trade singling out prostitutes who openly sell themselves on Beach Road.

Referring to the UK report he said: “It is not true,it is just lies. Pattaya is more about nature than sex.

Tourists come to Pattaya for many reasons, he aid, and while he accepted that some come for the sex trade it did not mean that was the only thing on offer and that there were prostitutes on every corner.

But he cautioned that the local police were going to step up their efforts to curb the sex trade according to government policy.

“In the past we made some arrests in the sex trade but not many,” he said. “This is going to be stepped up.”

Sanook.com reported that police were going to target streetwalkers who line Beach Road as well as conduct more raids on the sex business in the resort.

Apichai took a swipe at the British business community in the resort when he commented that the Mirror story originated from UK businessmen talking to reporters from their homeland about the sex trade.

He stated firmly: “I can confirm that Pattaya is NOT a sex capital on a world level”.

Sanook

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