Thai authorities are finally speaking up well over a week after the first airing of Big Trouble in Thailand on the Bravo channel in Britain. While there has been a huge buzz on the internet by those who write about or talk about Thailand there has been little to no interest outside those circles. Apparently only 113,000 viewers even saw the first episode on the Bravo channel.

While the internet Thailand community discussed and scrutinized the footage for it’s reality TV feel and possible staged events,  the Thai authorities have taken it to a new level. Some Thai Authorities are claiming that the video footage was made solely to damage Thailand’s tourism industry. Phuket governor Wichai Praisa-ngob went as far to say that the footage might have been made by someone that stood to benefit from Thailand tourism getting worse.

While I agree that the documentary is nothing more than sensational reality TV crap I hardly think anyone was looking to torpedo Thailand tourism.

Pol Lt Gen Santhan claims that the way the footage was edited suggested a set up. The Jet Ski incident clearly looked staged but the release of some of the raw footage clears up some of the awful editing done to make the show seem more intense and gritty. Although we’re still awaiting the release of the raw footage pertaining to the gun. You can read more about this in Phucket Jet Ski Operator Blames Film Makers & I apologise to the Thai people but blame the film-makers – JJ (updated).

Pol Lt Gen Santhan also claimed that the documentary had been edited to tarnish Thailand’s image as well as the image of the Tourist police. While I agree that the editing was awful and sensationalistic,  I don’t think the intent was to tarnish Thailand but to draw in young viewers for what they hoped was a cool new cop show.

One would hope that the Thai authorities would see this program as an opportunity to clean up some of the problems they have in the tourist industry such as the jet ski scams. While Phuket governor Wichai Praisa-ngob is cracking down on jet ski operators in Phuket by demanding that they self insure, I have yet to hear of any other beach province taking such measures.

While authorities should be taking this time to look into the real problems facing the tourist industry they are too busy stomping their feet and looking to investigate those involved in the production. They should leave the investigations to the online Thailand community because it’s been doing quite well in that regard.  Eventually the dust will settle down and the documentary will be old news, Lets hope the same can be said for the scams and payoffs that plague Thailand’s tourist industry.

With the economy still down and the tourist industry bleeding the documentary couldn’t have come at a worse time for Thailand. Luckily the majority of viewers were people already interested in Thailand who were watching to see the place they miss or love. The show itself won’t take off anyway with leading men like Howard Miller in the new Kojak role, but I do have to say it has a chance if Tourist police volunteer Noi gets into more action…she’s a cutie.