PHUKET is preparing for three days of tight security from Thursday evening with the PM and 300 top Democrat Party MPs and officials flying to the island for the party's important three-day annual congress.
Patong especially will be subjected to army and police clamps at two rings of checkpoints on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Key conference meetings will be hosted at the Merlin Beach Resort, south of Patong at Tritrang beach.
Security is tight because of concerns about potential disruption. Details of particular events are not likely to be revealed until the last minute.
It is known, however, that there will be a session to address issues confronting Thailand's media, and an opportunity for Phuket businesspeople to meet with Democrat leaders and make their views known.
With Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob returning to Phuket today from an extended series of meetings in Bangkok, Vice Governor Treerayut Eamtakul chaired an extraordinary meeting at Provincial Hall in Phuket City this morning.
In attendance were virtually all the island's top local officials and police. They were told about the Democrat Party conference and the need for increased vigilance at the airport and all over the island, but particularly in and around Patong.
All vehicles travelling towards Patong from tonight until late Sunday can expect to be stopped and possibly searched. Regular checkpoints will be used and a beach ringroad checkpoint will be established outside the Thavorn Bay Resort, north of Patong.
At a distance of about a kilometre from the Merlin Beach Resort, more intense security will be in place.
It may be that as Samui held last year's conference, Phuket has been the likely destination all along. But as an island that also happens to be a Democrat Party stronghold, Phuket appears to be the ideal place for a secure conference at any time.
A bomb blast in Bangkok at the weekend that killed one person and injured about 10 others rekindled concern that the agitators who brought violence to the red shirt protests in April and May are still at large.
Leaders of both red shirt and yellow shirt groups on Phuket have given undertakings to the governor that they will not cause any trouble on the island.
Phuket's Bid for World Expo Can Kill CorruptionPatong especially will be subjected to army and police clamps at two rings of checkpoints on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Key conference meetings will be hosted at the Merlin Beach Resort, south of Patong at Tritrang beach.
Security is tight because of concerns about potential disruption. Details of particular events are not likely to be revealed until the last minute.
It is known, however, that there will be a session to address issues confronting Thailand's media, and an opportunity for Phuket businesspeople to meet with Democrat leaders and make their views known.
With Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob returning to Phuket today from an extended series of meetings in Bangkok, Vice Governor Treerayut Eamtakul chaired an extraordinary meeting at Provincial Hall in Phuket City this morning.
In attendance were virtually all the island's top local officials and police. They were told about the Democrat Party conference and the need for increased vigilance at the airport and all over the island, but particularly in and around Patong.
All vehicles travelling towards Patong from tonight until late Sunday can expect to be stopped and possibly searched. Regular checkpoints will be used and a beach ringroad checkpoint will be established outside the Thavorn Bay Resort, north of Patong.
At a distance of about a kilometre from the Merlin Beach Resort, more intense security will be in place.
It may be that as Samui held last year's conference, Phuket has been the likely destination all along. But as an island that also happens to be a Democrat Party stronghold, Phuket appears to be the ideal place for a secure conference at any time.
A bomb blast in Bangkok at the weekend that killed one person and injured about 10 others rekindled concern that the agitators who brought violence to the red shirt protests in April and May are still at large.
Leaders of both red shirt and yellow shirt groups on Phuket have given undertakings to the governor that they will not cause any trouble on the island.
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I assume the meeting with Phuket business people will only involve Thais. What a pity the powers that be in Bangkok will be fed the usual rubbish about how well Phuket is doing - no crime, corruption, extortion, etc.
Posted by mike on July 29, 2010 11:52
Editor Comment:
I don't think there's too much self-deception on Phuket. Thai businesspeople are not as reticent in speaking out as you might think. A previous business summit earlier this year involved at least one prominent expat businessman and I suspect there's no conscious attempt to exclude expats. But there are also organisations that are more specifically aimed at expat businesspeople. To me, it's time for a more obviously united approach. The quarterly meeting of honorary consuls with local authorities and police is a genuine breakthrough. No reason why the Thai and expat business communities couldn't get together in a similar way. It would give the tourism industry much more power if they did.