A DECISION will be made on a light rail link between Phuket City and the Phuket International Airport before the end of the year, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha said today.

He also said that a call system should soon be introduced to ease tuk-tuk congestion along the beachfront in Patong.

Governor Tri was speaking at Provincial Hall in Phuket City where he met with Daniel Pruce, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Bangkok, who was on Phuket on a goodwill visit. He mentioned the need for answers to Phuket's traffic problems.

Governor Tri said solutions were on the way, with standard fares also part of the plan for taxis and tuk-tuks.

Mr Pruce will be speaking at a meeting of British expats tonight after further talks today with the head of Phuket Immigration and Phuket's police chief.

He told Phuketwan that it was important, with Thailand as the No. 1 long-haul destination for British tourists, to make sure that those following the 840,000 British visitors to Thailand last year had ''an enjoyable, trouble-free experience.''

A close relationship with officials on Phuket helped to safeguard visitors to the island, he said.

''It's quite striking how the demographic of people coming here is changing,'' he said. ''My last flight back here from the UK was full of very very young people, some of them coming to Thailand for the first time for an extended break.

''We have to make sure that we are tailoring what we do to that changing population.''

Last year there were 300 deaths of Britons in Thailand, he said. ''That does make Thailand one of the more dangerous countries, if you are a British citizen,'' he added. ''So the support and advice we offer people is important.

''Of that 300, some 250 were deaths among the resident community. Hospitalisations last year were about 200, with a high level of arrests, mostly drug-related. Proportionately, given the numbers that come here, the embassy has a high workload.''

Mr Pruce said the honorary consuls' quarterly meeting with Phuket's governor, introduced this year, was ''a really good idea. It clearly works.''

British honorary consul Martin Carpenter received ''excellent co-operation from every level of Thai authorities'' on Phuket.

Mr Pruce said that the possibility of British Prime Minister David Cameron and his family holidaying in Thailand or on Phuket at Christmas-New Year was ''not something we can talk about in advance.''

On Thailand's application for the extradition of Lee Aldhouse from Britain to face a charge of having murdered American Dashawn Longfellow on Phuket earlier this year, Mr Pruce could only say that the extradition process was ''working its way forward.'' He said he had no knowledge of a video conference that was reported late last month to be part of the process.

A permanent replacement for former British Ambassador Quinton Quayle, who has gone to work in Britain with a private firm with Thai connections, will not be confirmed until 2012, after the candidate has undergone a 15-month full-time Thai language course. Once the new ambassador's credentials have been accepted, the posting will be for four years.

When then-Ambassador Quayle visited Phuket earlier this year, he estimated that about 5000 Britons were living on Phuket.