PHUKET: Earlier this week, on the same day, Phuketwan reporters covering two different events were asked questions about our coverage.

Phuket Governor Maitree Intrusud, visiting Patong and Kamala police stations, wondered in conversation with one reporter why drownings were so often reported.

It was not mentioned as often that Phuket's lifeguards have rescued 557 people so far this year, he said.

We share the governor's desire for balance and are only too happy to report the tally of lifeguard savings.

However, with beach drownings alone now at unprecedented levels and approaching 30 so far this year, Phuketwan believes the number of tourist deaths is the more important statistic.

Phuketwan wholeheartedly supports the lifeguards' attempts to engage the Phuket community in saving more lives and looks forward to the day when we can report that the number of drownings has dropped.

We may not be sure when this happens, though, unless the governor tells us. Regular monthly updates on the number of drownings - once provided by Phuket's Public Health department - ceased being issued in April last year.

Phuket's problem remains not the rescues, but the drownings. And it's not just a tourism-related issue. Theguardian.com reports that 2650 children drown in Thailand each year.

It's the leading cause of death in children aged one year and over. Teaching children to swim would save many lives.

At another meeting on the same day on the other side of the island, the second Phuketwan reporter had a conversation with a leading district official. To avoid embarrassment, we will not name him.

This official wondered aloud at a meeting of about 30 people why the ''foreign'' media always reports the negatives about Phuket.

In a discussion a little later, the official revealed to our reporter that he does not read English. He was merely repeating what he had been told by others.

He also argued at some length in defence of the behavior of Phuket's taxi drivers, saying that they were poor and all had families who needed to be fed. ''Let them do what they need to do,'' he said.

It would have taken more time than our reporter had to explain to the official how economies work, and why it is wrong to imagine that taxi driving is the right of every Phuket male on reaching adulthood.

But given the coincidence of ''foreign'' news coverage being raised twice in one day, it may be time to reiterate Phuketwan's perspective.

First and foremost, we are Phuket and international, just as the island is, not ''foreign.''

Phuket is changing rapidly but many of its people are not kept well informed about those changes. Some of the changes are for the better. Others are not.

This is perhaps the main reason why the Phuketwan motto was adapted this year from ''Sweet Phuket, Every Day'' to ''Brave Enough to Change.''

Change must come, either in advance of crisis or in response to it.

We remain a Phuket news outlet with an international perspective. We see all the issues assailing Phuket in the context of global standards and trends.

We respect the rights of all individuals and are prepared to explain the logic of our point of view to people who do not see the issues as clearly as we do.

Essential changes are vital for the island, both for the sake of the next generation and for Thailand, yet we remain unerringly positive about the future of Phuket.