PHUKET has ''360-degree problems,'' departing Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob told Phuketwan this week in what was probably his final interview.

''As soon as we fix one problem, another issue crops up,'' he said. ''They never seem to stop. But we can improve Phuket.''

When we first met the governor, he was in charge of the neighboring province of Phang Nga - and he was planning a 200 metre tourist tower. Fast forward a couple of years, and the latest plan for the Phang Nga tower is on his desk.

One of these days . . .

The Andaman region is close to his heart, and he sees the benefit in treating the Andaman provinces as a cluster, where more tourists will in future spend a few days on Phuket and a few more in Phang Nga, Krabi or even Ranong.

He is pleased with having made a few advances in 18 months. There's the quarterly meetings with honorary consuls, insurance for Patong's jet-skis, and the removal of a traffic blackspot on the road to Rawai, caused by a recalcitrant landowner. He says six tourists and five locals died at the spot, but now the road has been widened.

There's also last year's Asean Foreign Ministers' summit, with the reputation of Phuket on the line after the red invasion of a planned Asean gathering in Pattaya a few months earlier.

''We were under a great deal of pressure, with Hillary Clinton coming,'' he said. ''If it hadn't worked out so well, it would have been a catastrophe for Phuket and for Thailand.''

He really didn't have much of an idea about Phuket because, even though he'd been governor of Phang Nga, he had only ever been to Phuket once, for a wedding. And he'd never been overseas, and so was devoid of any experience of what it means to be a tourist.

''Phuket had a lot of problems when I came, and it still has a lot of problems,'' he said. He told the last meeting of the leaders of local authorities that they needed to pursue solutions to issues such as drug-taking, Burmese migration . . . and of course, taxis and tuk-tuks.

''As everyone knows, the honorary consuls and the embassy representatives have a big issue with the tuk-tuks,'' he said. There are those who say that with 19 local authorities, the splintered government of Phuket is one of its biggest problems.

The governor's hope, though, is that somehow all this micro-government can be melded together to solve some of Phuket's key issues, including creating a ''Phuket model'' for public transport.

He believes he has made progress in giving Phuket a more consistent water supply, enlarging the Bang Wad reservoir, and establishing several smaller dams and ponds.

''Once, people just had showers,'' he said. ''But not on Phuket. These days, they all have Jacuzzis.''

After 40 years of public service, Khun Wichai is content to be heading into retirement. He repeated his mantra about Phuket being a combination of parts, just like the elements that make up a car. ''I'm just the driver,'' he said.

We remember the governor crooning a love song to street blockaders, swinging a symbolic pick to open a new road, waving the Thai flag proudly to celebrate a national festival, and cheerily extending a hand to shake on the first day he arrived on Phuket.

It was quite a ride, Governor Wichai.