PHUKET: The Minister of the Interior, Anupong Paojinda, is scheduled to visit Patong beach on Friday as part of a two-day visit that includes a policy briefing with the governors of all the Andaman provinces.
Friday will begin auspiciously with the opening ceremony of the new Region 8 Headquarters due to begin at 9am near the Tachatchai checkpoint. Thailand's top policeman, General Somyot Pumpanmuang, is flying from Bangkok for the occasion.
The shift of the headquarters from Songkhla brings an extra 200 police to the holiday island and emphasises the government's commitment to tourism safety and security.
On a separate visit, Khun Anupong will meet at Phuket Provincial Hall with the governors of Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Trang and Ranong. He will deliver a briefing on the government's hopes and expectations for the Andaman region.
Tomorrow afternoon, the minister will visit Phuket's garbage incinerators at Saphan Hin in Phuket City.
One of the priorities of the government has been to help Phuket cope more effectively with its waste - the island produces more rubbish each day than it can destroy.
Next comes a visit to Patong beach, where Khun Anupong will be able to see for himself what the beach looks like without sunbeds and what the plans are for a ''10 percent commercial zone'' solution.
If past experience with VIP visits is any guide, the jet-ski operators who are now in control of the beach will either be on their best behavior or take the afternoon off.
Khun Anupong on his visit to Patong is expected to also review the present taxi and tuk-tuk parking.
Efforts to have beach road cleared of tuk-tuks and taxis, with the vehicles to be called in as required from a queueing point out of town, have failed.
The minister is scheduled to stay overnight in Patong.
Friday will begin auspiciously with the opening ceremony of the new Region 8 Headquarters due to begin at 9am near the Tachatchai checkpoint. Thailand's top policeman, General Somyot Pumpanmuang, is flying from Bangkok for the occasion.
The shift of the headquarters from Songkhla brings an extra 200 police to the holiday island and emphasises the government's commitment to tourism safety and security.
On a separate visit, Khun Anupong will meet at Phuket Provincial Hall with the governors of Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Trang and Ranong. He will deliver a briefing on the government's hopes and expectations for the Andaman region.
Tomorrow afternoon, the minister will visit Phuket's garbage incinerators at Saphan Hin in Phuket City.
One of the priorities of the government has been to help Phuket cope more effectively with its waste - the island produces more rubbish each day than it can destroy.
Next comes a visit to Patong beach, where Khun Anupong will be able to see for himself what the beach looks like without sunbeds and what the plans are for a ''10 percent commercial zone'' solution.
If past experience with VIP visits is any guide, the jet-ski operators who are now in control of the beach will either be on their best behavior or take the afternoon off.
Khun Anupong on his visit to Patong is expected to also review the present taxi and tuk-tuk parking.
Efforts to have beach road cleared of tuk-tuks and taxis, with the vehicles to be called in as required from a queueing point out of town, have failed.
The minister is scheduled to stay overnight in Patong.
Wouldn't it make more sense to come unannounced to see what it's really like?
I suppose that having a planned visit, everyone can make thing look good for a couple of hours so the authorities can say they looked and everything is perfect
Let's hope he stays two nights and takes a peek in private on saturday when it's all back to normal
Maybe he could borrow or rent a car and go to try and park on the beach or second roads - see what it's really like :-)
Posted by Discover Thainess on September 10, 2015 23:33