PHUKET: Beating corruption and finding a balance with nature are two viewpoints that Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has come to embrace as priorities for Phuket's future.

Is he a changed man from the old Pian Keesin, the legendary ''hard man'' of local politics on Phuket? He certainly is.

The new Pian even admits to owing a debt to an old foe.

There was a time when his clashes with the former head of Phuket's Natural Resources and Environment office, Ong-art Chanachanmongkol, were the stuff of legend.

Khun Ong-art, perhaps more than any other individual, gave Phuket its 80 metres above sea level limit on construction.

While there are certainly some notable cases of abuse, even in the five-star property category, the height limit that Mayor Pian once sought to have lifted or shifted has mostly been upheld.

''I am grateful to Khun Ong-art for what he did and I am glad that the law did not change,'' Khun Pian told Phuketwan. ''Just imagine what Phuket would look like without the 80-metre limit.''

Khun Pian speaks as someone whose family has land above 80 metres - and he once wanted to build high in the Phuket hills. Not any more.

''Khun Ong-art's height limit has been very good in the long term,'' he said. The firebrand Mayor Pian is much more mellow now, more considered. Gentler, even.

He would even like an 80-metre style ''ceiling'' to be applied to the number of resorts, villas and other accommodation for tourists on Phuket. ''Another 6000 rooms would be plenty,'' he says.

That would cap the number at about 50,000, perhaps giving Phuket the sustainability it seeks in a climate where Thai and expat developers are never going to admit that it's time to stop.

''It's good that the hills have been preserved for future generations and it is important for the government to protect the titles of public land,'' he said.

''Actually, our country has double standards. ''People who have big money can buy public land, yet local people who have lived in the area for generations have no right to that same land.''

He said it was important to preserve Phuket's precious environmental treasures, to make sure they were not lost.

Involvement in the Asean Economic Community in 2015 would be a real test for Thailand, he said: ''We have to make ourselves strong. But the problem is, Thai people do not like to follow rules.''

The new Yingluck Shinawatra government, Mayor Pian says, needs to concentrate on improving education and health.

''Many people come for interviews, sometimes even with a master's degree, but they often don't have real training or skills,'' he said.

''The government needs to improver education as a priority, along with health. Young people need alternatives to taking drugs.''

When it comes to the thought of giving everyone a minimum 300 baht daily wage, Mayor Pian notes that it's better to teach a poor man how to fish than it is to keep providing him with fish to eat.

''Look at this 300 baht minimum,'' he said. ''There is no point in taking a Thai person who does not know how to work and making them lazier and lazier.''

He warned that Thailand could be forced to import rice from Vietnam without forward planning and good policies.

Corruption, he said, was an issue that needed to be addressed for the good of Phuket and Thailand.

''Me, the mayor, and my staff, we don't eat for free. Nobody is entitled to a free meal. There are about 700 people involved in local authorities on Phuket and we have to care for about 200,000 people. We can do it.

''I don't understand why the government doesn't pay superintendents at police stations 70,000 baht or 80,000 baht a month, instead of 20,000 baht. They mostly have wives and children to feed.

''How can they be expected to survive on that? An end to corruption begins with the government spending its money in the right way.

''And if those highly-paid police do the wrong thing, then they should be severely punished.

''The government does not pay them enough. That's why corruption happens.''

He said aspiring for too much was also a problem. ''I may have a Mercedes to carry me to work,'' he said.

''But I don't really need it. If necessary, I can ride a bicycle, or walk. People shouldn't be too greedy.''

Observers think that Mayor Pian has changed but when we talked to his son Prab in 2010, he said his father, as well as being a good dad, was a consummate politician.

As Khun Pian said last election: ''The sky belongs to the birds, but the mayorship of Patong belongs to Pian.''

Next year is re-election year.