THE PRIME MINISTER has ordered a massive clean-up of all of Phuket's chronic tourism-related problems, a meeting of leading Phuket citizens heard this afternoon.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of the Interior, Prania Suwanrath, said he has been ordered to ''fix Phuket'' after a deluge of complaints from ambassadors and tourists. He will deliver a progress report in person to the PM next week.

In a meeting that lasted for almost four hours, Khun Prania today heard one person after another talk of what ails Phuket: tuk-tuk extortion, lack of proper law enforcement, self-interest among local administrators and corruption.

At the conclusion of the long meeting, Phuketwan asked Khun Prania how Phuket compared with Thailand's other tourism destinations - Chiang Mai, Samui, Pattaya and Bangkok.

''Phuket is the one that the Prime Minister wants me to fix first,'' he said. ''Some of these problems have been talked about for 10 years. Now we are going to change Phuket. Bangkok and big government plan to fix this.

''I will be back on Phuket every 30 days to assess progress until Phuket is working the way it should.''

Phuket's media has been asked not to identify the people who spoke at today's long session.

The five general areas that are being looked at first are: Rip-offs and transport, including tuk-tuks and jet-skis; Tailors and touts and the use of high-pressure street sales techniques; Traffic and the lack of a strategy for Phuket's growth; Garbage disposal; Local and international tourist guides.

Here are some highlights from today's session. Phuketwan will add more stories filled with the individual accounts of what Khun Prania was told today.

Phuket's Khun A ''If we can solve Phuket's public transport problems, 30 to 50 percent of Phuket's problems will also disappear.''

Phuket's Khun B ''We have a problem for example with the new bus station, which we can't open because the Mayor of Rassada doesn't like the proposed place for the buses to turn outside his home.''

Khun Prania: ''I will fix that. Tell him that I need the bus station open, and we have to sort this problem out quickly.''

Phuket's Khun C ''Thai law is excellent, among the best in the world. But law enforcement? They won't do anything. Greung Jai (obedience to the poweful). Money under the table. People in uniform have to pay large amounts to come to work in Phuket. Then they have to pay it back.''

Phuket's Khun D ''Yes, Phuket has mafia. There is the Thai mafia. There is the farang mafia. But bigger than those mafia are the mafia in uniform.''

Phuket's Khun E ''One of my guests went to a pub where he had one bottle of beer, and was billed for four bottles. He was beaten up. We reported it to the police station. Later I got a call from a senior officer saying, 'That pub belongs to some of my friends. Please drop the charge.'''

Today's meeting is the first for Khun Prania on Phuket following several meetings in Bangkok where Vice Governor Niwit Aroonrat was Phuket's representative.

The Interior Ministry mission to ''fix Phuket'' is a separate process to a simultaneous investigation on Phuket by the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission. The first is likely to bring changes, the second is likely to bring prosecutions.

Phuket's honorary consuls have accelerated the number of complaints being passed on to their ambassadors - and it now appears to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister.

The honorary consuls meet with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on Monday in Phuket City, with tuk-tuk extortion and jet-ski scams likely to be high on the agenda. Australian Ambassador James Wise also plans to attend.

Look for more articles coming shortly here on Phuketwan on what was said today. This could be a turning point in Phuket's fight against corruption.