PHUKET'S media is expected to turn out in force for a public ''Performance Press Conference'' organised by the Mayor of Patong, Pian Keesin, for tomorrow.
Mayor Pian has a growing reputation for improving transparency by holding open meetings where questions are encouraged, at least once a year.
Although the mayor is sometimes controversial, his vision for the future of Patong City is grand - and it certainly includes a tunnel through Patong Hill to reduce the number of road crashes that continue to occur on the winding, steep track between east and west on Phuket.
No person on Phuket wields greater influence in Bangkok than the Mayor of Patong. Khun Pian was elected in August 2004 and reelected in 2008, with the next poll due in mid-2012.
As an elected politician, he handed over control of the family business to his son, Preechavude ''Prab'' Keesin, to avoid conflicts of interest.
Since 2009, Khun Pian has been conducting ''Performance Press Conferences'' annually, but never on quite the scale of tomorrow's meeting.
At last year's gathering, the mayor acknowledged that taxi and tuk-tuk drivers paid off police and local authorities to gain the best parking spots along beach road, and added that corruption had to stop before improvements could be made.
Since that meeting, Patong has continued to make its mark as the key destination for tourism on Phuket but with criticism continuing about high tuk-tuk fares and jet-ski rip-offs.
In October at another gathering on the football field at Loma Park, Mayor Pian heard that as many as 14 organisations were involved in corrupt payments of one kind or another in Patong, and local businesspeople were keen to make the point that more graft was not desirable.
One criticism of previous ''performance press conferences'' has been the strategic vetting of questions by a master of ceremonies who sometimes deflected the more difficult queries.
The Mayor's ''Performance Press Conference'' begins with registration at the Kee Resort in Patong from 9am, includes a Patong contemporary dance show, and ends at noon.
Time's Up: Patong Mayor Posts Warning on ToutsMayor Pian has a growing reputation for improving transparency by holding open meetings where questions are encouraged, at least once a year.
Although the mayor is sometimes controversial, his vision for the future of Patong City is grand - and it certainly includes a tunnel through Patong Hill to reduce the number of road crashes that continue to occur on the winding, steep track between east and west on Phuket.
No person on Phuket wields greater influence in Bangkok than the Mayor of Patong. Khun Pian was elected in August 2004 and reelected in 2008, with the next poll due in mid-2012.
As an elected politician, he handed over control of the family business to his son, Preechavude ''Prab'' Keesin, to avoid conflicts of interest.
Since 2009, Khun Pian has been conducting ''Performance Press Conferences'' annually, but never on quite the scale of tomorrow's meeting.
At last year's gathering, the mayor acknowledged that taxi and tuk-tuk drivers paid off police and local authorities to gain the best parking spots along beach road, and added that corruption had to stop before improvements could be made.
Since that meeting, Patong has continued to make its mark as the key destination for tourism on Phuket but with criticism continuing about high tuk-tuk fares and jet-ski rip-offs.
In October at another gathering on the football field at Loma Park, Mayor Pian heard that as many as 14 organisations were involved in corrupt payments of one kind or another in Patong, and local businesspeople were keen to make the point that more graft was not desirable.
One criticism of previous ''performance press conferences'' has been the strategic vetting of questions by a master of ceremonies who sometimes deflected the more difficult queries.
The Mayor's ''Performance Press Conference'' begins with registration at the Kee Resort in Patong from 9am, includes a Patong contemporary dance show, and ends at noon.
Latest Three large billboards have gone up in Patong warning tourists that time share and holiday club deals can be bogus or misrepresent products. The move is being hailed as a breakthrough.
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"The Mayor's 'Performance Press Conference' begins with registration at the Kee Resort in Patong..."
Ah! So we can't go anonymously?
(Will they check our passports?)
Posted by Mike Boyd on March 22, 2011 17:29
Editor Comment:
Only if your knees are banging together and making a lot of noise.