PHUKET: A complaint that led to a local community surrounding a Phuket resort in an angry protest appears to have been settled by island authorities.
But the question still remains: who exactly was it who did tell the Prime Minister of Thailand's office that the local Muslim community's loudspeaker calls to prayer were too loud?
The residents' prime suspects, the owner and general manager of the Phuket Panwa Beachfront Resort, were not the people who originated a complaint via a 1111 hotline to the Prime Minister's office, a representative from the PM's office said today.
She added that national privacy laws prevented her from disclosing who actually did initiate the complaint.
Suspecting the resort owner was at fault, hundreds of locals in Cape Panwa surrounded the resort last week in a protest of the kind that Phuket authorities do not wish to see again.
Today, their response was measured but plain. A meeting took place with local community leaders in a small council office, not far from the resort.
The meeting was telecast to scores of other residents who watched the proceedings on television screens outside the building.
Strategically placed not far away was a police prison van.
Protecting the authorities at the meeting were soldiers from Nakkorn Si Thammarat and Royal Thai Navy personnel.
Later, at a second meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City, Governor Nisit Jansomwong formally announced that the residents had accepted there was a misunderstanding and that the matter had been concluded.
But the question still remains: who exactly was it who did tell the Prime Minister of Thailand's office that the local Muslim community's loudspeaker calls to prayer were too loud?
The residents' prime suspects, the owner and general manager of the Phuket Panwa Beachfront Resort, were not the people who originated a complaint via a 1111 hotline to the Prime Minister's office, a representative from the PM's office said today.
She added that national privacy laws prevented her from disclosing who actually did initiate the complaint.
Suspecting the resort owner was at fault, hundreds of locals in Cape Panwa surrounded the resort last week in a protest of the kind that Phuket authorities do not wish to see again.
Today, their response was measured but plain. A meeting took place with local community leaders in a small council office, not far from the resort.
The meeting was telecast to scores of other residents who watched the proceedings on television screens outside the building.
Strategically placed not far away was a police prison van.
Protecting the authorities at the meeting were soldiers from Nakkorn Si Thammarat and Royal Thai Navy personnel.
Later, at a second meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City, Governor Nisit Jansomwong formally announced that the residents had accepted there was a misunderstanding and that the matter had been concluded.
ell, well, a lot of fried air about nothing. I am sure the prayer loudspeakers are tuning down a bit. Not any longer disturbing hotel guests sleep. Was it not possible to handle the matter this way already last week?
Posted by Kurt on February 26, 2015 20:44