PHUKET: A change in mood pervaded yesterday's meeting between Phuket's business and community leaders and the island's uppity* honorary consuls.
Gone was the tough talk about taxis, tuk-tuks and jet-ski scams. Gone were the warnings of travel alerts and damning videos exposing Phuket's tourist traps and rip-offs.
Gone soon too was the Phuket Governor, Tri Augkaradacha, who apologised for having to leave the meeting. But as Phuket's senior electoral officer, he had to supervise an important election within Phuket's Muslim community.
Left behind with the consuls and Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong, who took over chairing the gathering, were two newly arrived envoys, Swedish Ambassador Klas Molin and German Ambassador Rolf Schulze.
If people were expecting fireworks, they would have been disappointed. Usually an occasion when honorary consuls relate harrowing accounts of unhappy expat experiences and highlight the need for action, yesterday's complete consular mood-change came as a surprise to some observers.
Why the sudden outbreak of peace and light?
The answer, or at least a substantial part of it, was there for all to see in the presence of the two ambassadors on the podium at Provincial Hall in Phuket City.
It's the first time in the quarterly talks this year that the honorary consuls' humble Phuket gabfest has attracted two senior envoys. The visitors appeared to be in on the reason for the change in mood, and hinted at it in what they told the meeting.
Both are scheduled to meet Governor Tri in more intimate talks today. The message from yesterday, conveyed in the general cheeriness of the honorary consuls that must now surely be wafting out over the entire island, is that help is at hand.
The special Phuket committees set up by the Governor - with the help of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Pranai Suwanrath - are seen to have been a success.
And from what Phuketwan learned yesterday, at least 10 ambassadors in Bangkok are now mounting a concerted campaign to solve the problems of Phuket. Little wonder everyone is upbeat.
The point is, as it always has been, that people who come to the island from other places can see Phuket's beauty and feel the hospitality of its people.
What they experience and/or hear about corruption, scams and rip-offs is a damaging blight on a charmed destination.
Some visitors are newcomers to Phuket, as Germany's ambassador Schulze admitted in his speech, before quickly adding that he'd seen enough in one day to know that he should plan to return with his family.
Others are repeat visitors, like Swedish ambassador Molin, who told the meeting that he had been coming to Phuket since 1987.
His visit in 2005, with the King and Queen of Sweden after the Indian Ocean tsunami, was perhaps the trip to Phuket he is least likely to forget.
The truth is, the bond between the Phuket region and its expat visitors becomes stronger, not weaker, in times of trouble.
It was touching, then, to recall that the two ambassadors represented countries who between them lost 1080 people on December 26, 2004.
Tourists in their beds sleeping off Christmas Day, children playing on the beach, expat residents out enjoying the sunshine in Thailand . . .
The big wave's arrival inevitably bonded people from around the world into a desire to make Phuket and the Andaman coast an even better place than it was before 5400 lives were taken.
It was great to learn yesterday that the good work is still going on.
Phuketwan will be carrying more updates shortly on yesterday's important meeting and today's gatherings.
*uppity: rebelliously self-assertive; not inclined to be tractable or deferential.
Gone was the tough talk about taxis, tuk-tuks and jet-ski scams. Gone were the warnings of travel alerts and damning videos exposing Phuket's tourist traps and rip-offs.
Gone soon too was the Phuket Governor, Tri Augkaradacha, who apologised for having to leave the meeting. But as Phuket's senior electoral officer, he had to supervise an important election within Phuket's Muslim community.
Left behind with the consuls and Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong, who took over chairing the gathering, were two newly arrived envoys, Swedish Ambassador Klas Molin and German Ambassador Rolf Schulze.
If people were expecting fireworks, they would have been disappointed. Usually an occasion when honorary consuls relate harrowing accounts of unhappy expat experiences and highlight the need for action, yesterday's complete consular mood-change came as a surprise to some observers.
Why the sudden outbreak of peace and light?
The answer, or at least a substantial part of it, was there for all to see in the presence of the two ambassadors on the podium at Provincial Hall in Phuket City.
It's the first time in the quarterly talks this year that the honorary consuls' humble Phuket gabfest has attracted two senior envoys. The visitors appeared to be in on the reason for the change in mood, and hinted at it in what they told the meeting.
Both are scheduled to meet Governor Tri in more intimate talks today. The message from yesterday, conveyed in the general cheeriness of the honorary consuls that must now surely be wafting out over the entire island, is that help is at hand.
The special Phuket committees set up by the Governor - with the help of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Pranai Suwanrath - are seen to have been a success.
And from what Phuketwan learned yesterday, at least 10 ambassadors in Bangkok are now mounting a concerted campaign to solve the problems of Phuket. Little wonder everyone is upbeat.
The point is, as it always has been, that people who come to the island from other places can see Phuket's beauty and feel the hospitality of its people.
What they experience and/or hear about corruption, scams and rip-offs is a damaging blight on a charmed destination.
Some visitors are newcomers to Phuket, as Germany's ambassador Schulze admitted in his speech, before quickly adding that he'd seen enough in one day to know that he should plan to return with his family.
Others are repeat visitors, like Swedish ambassador Molin, who told the meeting that he had been coming to Phuket since 1987.
His visit in 2005, with the King and Queen of Sweden after the Indian Ocean tsunami, was perhaps the trip to Phuket he is least likely to forget.
The truth is, the bond between the Phuket region and its expat visitors becomes stronger, not weaker, in times of trouble.
It was touching, then, to recall that the two ambassadors represented countries who between them lost 1080 people on December 26, 2004.
Tourists in their beds sleeping off Christmas Day, children playing on the beach, expat residents out enjoying the sunshine in Thailand . . .
The big wave's arrival inevitably bonded people from around the world into a desire to make Phuket and the Andaman coast an even better place than it was before 5400 lives were taken.
It was great to learn yesterday that the good work is still going on.
Phuketwan will be carrying more updates shortly on yesterday's important meeting and today's gatherings.
*uppity: rebelliously self-assertive; not inclined to be tractable or deferential.
Run Rabbit Run!
Posted by Nip on November 25, 2011 11:35