FORTY-FOUR inmates from Phuket Provincial Prison will be working a surprise shift tonight to get the airport in shape for the Asean Regional Forum.
Governor Wichai Praisa-nob visited the airport yesterday and was not happy with the way the facility looked in preparation for the summit.
So the large contingent from the jail will be ''landscaping'' most of the night.
Twenty-seven national flags were flying at the Heroines' Monument at the centre of the island today, and tomorrow the flags will be flying all along the route from the airport.
Governor Wichai toured the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, venue for most of the key meetings of the ARF and associated forums.
General Manager Jan Kirstein showed the governor the meeting rooms, the accommodation, and the scale of the decorations and signage that will be complete by the time the delegates arrive next Thursday.
Eight schools in the surrounding region will be out in force to line the roads for the arrivals, waving national flags.
Phuketwan could see little out of the ordinary in the Thalang and Cherng Talay areas today, apart from the large number of military vehicles at one of the schools.
Some reports say as many as 10,000 military will be part of the protective cordons on Phuket.
The governor said today that the airport management needed to improve the way it looked.
''People will need to feel as though they are being made welcome,'' he said. ''This is not just for Phuket, this is for Thailand.''
The governor said that he wanted to do more than the Foreign Ministry had requested, whether the budgets allowed it or not.
He said that the international show would have little effect on tourists or those living on Phuket.
People would need to carry Thai ID or passports, though, to pass through security checks in the north of the island until the ARF ends on July 23.
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Governor Wichai Praisa-nob visited the airport yesterday and was not happy with the way the facility looked in preparation for the summit.
So the large contingent from the jail will be ''landscaping'' most of the night.
Twenty-seven national flags were flying at the Heroines' Monument at the centre of the island today, and tomorrow the flags will be flying all along the route from the airport.
Governor Wichai toured the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, venue for most of the key meetings of the ARF and associated forums.
General Manager Jan Kirstein showed the governor the meeting rooms, the accommodation, and the scale of the decorations and signage that will be complete by the time the delegates arrive next Thursday.
Eight schools in the surrounding region will be out in force to line the roads for the arrivals, waving national flags.
Phuketwan could see little out of the ordinary in the Thalang and Cherng Talay areas today, apart from the large number of military vehicles at one of the schools.
Some reports say as many as 10,000 military will be part of the protective cordons on Phuket.
The governor said today that the airport management needed to improve the way it looked.
''People will need to feel as though they are being made welcome,'' he said. ''This is not just for Phuket, this is for Thailand.''
The governor said that he wanted to do more than the Foreign Ministry had requested, whether the budgets allowed it or not.
He said that the international show would have little effect on tourists or those living on Phuket.
People would need to carry Thai ID or passports, though, to pass through security checks in the north of the island until the ARF ends on July 23.
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With the amount of NON-democratic military presence maybe instead of flags they could have signs saying "Welcome to Military Rule" You have to be honest with yourselves, simply sweeping the floors and doing a bit of planting is NOT going to change the image of Thailand.
Posted by Noddy on July 11, 2009 23:25