PHUKET: Police chose to go ahead with the launch of the Patong Safety Zone project on Friday within hours of the deadly Tiger Disco blaze.

National Police major General Chalermkiet Sriworakan came from Bangkok to lead the launch and took the opportunity of being on Phuket to visit the charred nightclub.

The Patong Safety Zone project, created after the murder on Phuket of Australian travel agent Michelle Smith in June, is designed to make Patong a safer place for tourists and residents.

The Patong experience will translate to a ''Phuket Model'' to be applied all over the island and then on to other tourist destinations in Thailand.

Brochures about the project have only been printed in Thai so it was incongruous to have a brass marching band attracting attention for pamphlets in the local language to be handed out to puzzled tourists around the Phuket west coast hub.

So far, Patong has been divided into six zones, each with its own team of officers and local resident volunteers.

A more complete network of security cameras, combining those supported by private enterprise with cameras on the streets, was to be a topic when Phuket resort managements met on Friday to discuss tourism safety.

However, after the disco fire, the meeting was postponed until next Thursday.

After Mrs Smith's murder, the Australian Ambassador, James Wise, proposed that authorities should attempt to rid Phuket of all weapons, especially guns and knives. Nothing has been done so far.

Prevention of drownings is also likely to be a topic, with lifeguards saying they need the help of resorts to save lives, and the Tiger Disco tragedy raises safety issues of a different kind.