PHUKET: Regular meetings with honorary consuls will be restored soon, the Phuket Governor, Maitree Intrusud, told a visiting ambassador from the European Union today.
The Ambassador for France, Thierry Viteau, reminded the governor of last year's summit on Phuket when the governor met with European Union ambassadors.
''It's important that local authorities perceive the importance of security for the tourists,'' he said. ''Phuket is still very attractive and a lot of people are coming. Things have improved.''
The ambassador said that the numbers of tourists visiting Thailand from France were up 20 percent. He also said about 5000 French citizens chose to make Phuket their home.
''We do everything we can for our people on Phuket,'' he said. ''The honorary consuls' forums are useful for the exchange of information and suggestions.''
Governor Maitree said today that the past six months had been hectic in Thailand and that he would restore the honorary consuls' forums at the earliest opportunity.
The forums were held regularly every three month under Governor Maitree's predecessors, but have seldom been held since he took charge of the island in October, 2012.
While previous governors saw the benefit in having open forums with local administrators and honorary consuls exchanging views and reported by the media, Governor Maitree's preference has been for much smaller meetings, often with the media excluded.
At one stage, the governor attempted to hold two gatherings, dividing the honorary consuls between the Thai nationals who represent other nations and foreign representatives.
The envoys declined to be divided and suggested there was no reason why the governor could not address them as a single group.
Governor Maitree's desire for small, closed meetings also prevents Phuket's other administrators from learning in a direct manner what the problems are for Phuket's international community and suggestions on how improvements might be achieved.
Residents on Phuket also remain ignorant of the issues that affect tourism and the island's future because the Thai-language media seldom devotes resources to covering the issue, even though the futures of most families depend on tourism.
When asked today how many residents there were on Phuket, including expats and migrant workers and tourists at any one time, Governor Maitree said he reckoned Phuket's population was about 800,000.
As the president of the Phuket Provincial Administrative organisation, Paiboon Upatising, noted at an early honorary consuls' meeting, follow-up action between the forums should be far more important than the meetings themselves.
Ambassador Viteau was accompanied at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City today by a small delegation from Bangkok and France's honorary consul on Phuket, Claude De Crissey.
The Ambassador for France, Thierry Viteau, reminded the governor of last year's summit on Phuket when the governor met with European Union ambassadors.
''It's important that local authorities perceive the importance of security for the tourists,'' he said. ''Phuket is still very attractive and a lot of people are coming. Things have improved.''
The ambassador said that the numbers of tourists visiting Thailand from France were up 20 percent. He also said about 5000 French citizens chose to make Phuket their home.
''We do everything we can for our people on Phuket,'' he said. ''The honorary consuls' forums are useful for the exchange of information and suggestions.''
Governor Maitree said today that the past six months had been hectic in Thailand and that he would restore the honorary consuls' forums at the earliest opportunity.
The forums were held regularly every three month under Governor Maitree's predecessors, but have seldom been held since he took charge of the island in October, 2012.
While previous governors saw the benefit in having open forums with local administrators and honorary consuls exchanging views and reported by the media, Governor Maitree's preference has been for much smaller meetings, often with the media excluded.
At one stage, the governor attempted to hold two gatherings, dividing the honorary consuls between the Thai nationals who represent other nations and foreign representatives.
The envoys declined to be divided and suggested there was no reason why the governor could not address them as a single group.
Governor Maitree's desire for small, closed meetings also prevents Phuket's other administrators from learning in a direct manner what the problems are for Phuket's international community and suggestions on how improvements might be achieved.
Residents on Phuket also remain ignorant of the issues that affect tourism and the island's future because the Thai-language media seldom devotes resources to covering the issue, even though the futures of most families depend on tourism.
When asked today how many residents there were on Phuket, including expats and migrant workers and tourists at any one time, Governor Maitree said he reckoned Phuket's population was about 800,000.
As the president of the Phuket Provincial Administrative organisation, Paiboon Upatising, noted at an early honorary consuls' meeting, follow-up action between the forums should be far more important than the meetings themselves.
Ambassador Viteau was accompanied at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City today by a small delegation from Bangkok and France's honorary consul on Phuket, Claude De Crissey.
"Soon" - hmm we'll see!
Posted by jimbo34 on July 25, 2014 21:24