CRIMES, petty or otherwise, drive tourists away from a place. More so if victims of such crimes are tourists.

On Samui, about 80 assaults on tourists are reported every month.

And what’s unfortunate is that a number of these cases turn cold, leaving the victims fuming and swearing never to set foot on the island again.

The police therefore did something refreshing when a Chinese tourist, who sought their help, got back her bag after three teenagers snatched it in Lamai.

Policemen, with the help of civilian volunteers, pursued the snatchers to a swampy thicket behind a local radio station where they collared the three young offenders.

This was a breath of fresh air at this time when what we normally read in newspapers are about police corruption and underperformance.

The tourist, of course, was disappointed that such an incident could happen to her on an island that her travel agent touted as a paradise. But the fact that the crime was swiftly solved and the culprits were caught somehow reduces the damage this incident  had caused to the island’s reputation.

Another laudable thing about the whole incident was the reaction from the mayor, Ramnet Jaikwang.  When he was told that one of those caught for the snatching was his own nephew, he gave the police a big pat in the back for a job well done.

Other people in power with less moral scruple would have done the expected -- spirit out his kin and shush the police as if nothing had happened.

To the credit of the good mayor, he did what a moral leader should do -- uphold the law no matter who gets hurt.

This happy turn of events give people living on the island and guests a sense of hope -- that not all people in uniform and even politicians like the mayor aren’t the hopeless scoundrels we often caricature them to be.