NIRAN Kalayanamit will finish his term as Governor of Phuket on October 20, Phuketwan learned this afternoon.

The ending of his key role as province governor in just a week brings to a close a relationship with the island that began when Khun Niran was appointed a vice governor seven years ago.

He was promoted to the key role of governor in 2006 and is highly-regarded for taking a stance on vital issues.

Khun Niran, aged 53, will be replaced by Dr Preecha Ruangjan, 55, the present governor of Phichit province. Phichit is in the lower central-northern region of Thailand.

Khun Niran's new role will be as Deputy Director General in the Department of Local Administration.

He is already heavily involved in Bangkok in absorbing the details of his new task.

He was the 40th governor in Phuket's history.

The longtime General Manager of Holiday Inn Phuket, Wolfgang Meusburger, told Phuketwan today that Khun Niran had done his best for business and tourism on Phuket.

''I hope his successor is as good as Khun Niran has been,'' Mr Meusburger said.

Phuket is seen as one of the most important of Thailand's 76 provinces, largely because of the huge amount of revenue generated by tourism.

However, one of the biggest battles that governors always have is with the national government in Bangkok. Khun Niran was no exception.

Phuketwan remembers interviewing him in his office on the day when his request for a realistic budget for the island had been cut in half.

He sought an annual budget of 300 million baht and was granted 154 million baht.

''What more can I do?'' he asked. Indeed.

Phuket is chronically underfunded because the amount returned to the province for infrastructure and development is based on the province's 320,000 officially registered voters.

The actual number of Thais who live on the island is estimated to be at least twice that figure. Many people work on Phuket, but remain registered in their home province.

Add the 4.5 million tourists, throw in some 100,000 legal and illegal Burmese workers, and the governor has the difficult task of constantly coping without sufficient funding.

Because voters in the province are largely anti-government, the returns from Bangkok are always going to be minimal.

Expensive, large-scale projects are often talked about but usually kept in the control of the national government.

The prime example is the plan for a marina and conference centre on Phuket Bay, which has been talked about for 20 years.

Khun Niran told the Phuket Bulletin recently in an interview: ''I am ready to approve new developments based on the laws, transparency and honesty of every sector in order to generate sustainable prosperity.''

He said that he visited the island several times as a tourist before beginning his official connection.

''Frankly, I've always thought of it as a dream place ever since I was a child,'' he said.

As governor, he was a keen supporter of making Phuket a special economic zone, which may have gone some way towards relieving the financial burden on future administrators.

''Last year we contributed more than 94 million baht into the national revenue,'' he said, adding that if there was serious support, Phuket could become even more significant to the country's economy.

Khun Niran sought to improve Phuket's water supply and garbage disposal and protect the environment from encroachment and ''uncontrolled greed.''

He remained keen to establish a light rail or express bus service between Phuket International Airport and Phuket City.

Khun Niran helped drive the recovery of the tourism industry after the 2004 tsunami, with visitors returning in large numbers again in 2006. He comes originally from Bangkok.