PHUKET: With a new Phuket Governor due to be appointed this week, perhaps it is time to see whether a woman can achieve what mere males have so far failed to do.

With a woman running Thailand and showing great interest in Phuket and the Andaman region, could a feminine touch also transform one of the country's greatest tourism assets?

Phuket has a history of heroines doing the right thing at the right time. It could certainly use another heroine right now.

Retiring Governor Tri Augkaradacha has tried hard, like all the male governors before him, to introduce the reforms that Phuket needs.

He sat Vice Governor Dr Sommai Preechasin alongside him at last week's meeting with Phuket's honorary consuls and hinted that she could well be the next governor.

If Dr Sommai gets the nod, she would not be Thailand's first female governor. Plenty of able administrators have worn skirts.

And Phuket is a place with its share of powerful, competent women. One half of its elected MPs, in the person of Anchalee Thepabutr, is female.

Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana has run Phuket City competently for many years. Former Phuket Chief Justice Varangkana Sujaritkul pushed through changes to the courts system that made mediation a focus.

And among Phuket's honorary consuls and the business community, there are plenty of women whose opinions are highly valued.

When all is said and done, there are not just more women on Phuket than men. There are also, by most people's reckoning, vast numbers of men who would prefer to be women.

Phuketwan offers its support to Dr Sommai and hopes that whoever takes office as Phuket Governor from October 1 is able to bring about change on Phuket - with all the skills of a transgender surgeon.

A new monument will be ready and waiting for the person who can perfect Phuket.