PHUKET: Old Phuket Town's future as a tourist attraction in its own right gained a boost yesterday with plans to put more power lines and other cable underground, at the same time aiming to become a ''City of Gastronomy.''

Note: City of Gastronomy. While Old Phuket Town remains the attractive heart of Sino-Portuguese Phuket, the entire island of Phuket is rapidly becoming one big urban metropolis.

Before many years pass, Phuket will be a city-province.

Indeed, the Mayor of Phuket City, Somjai Suwansupana, yesterday announced a 47 million baht project that will put many more ugly cables and wires underground in the area centring on Thalang Road and Soi Romanee, where the city streetscapes are already unencumbered.

Phase II is expected to be finished by July, then it will be on with Phase III, which should be wrapped up by April next year.

With the burying of the ugly cables comes the bid to encourage a new and special destination in the hearts, minds and stomachs of the tourists who primarily come to Phuket for the coral reefs and the beaches.

It has to be said that while Old Phuket Town certainly has some good restaurants, there isn't yet the concentration of them that visitors tend to find in eating strips in other tourist destinations.

And the problem is that as the property prices in Old Phuket Town rise, so does the cost of renting, and so does the cost of running a restaurant . . . all of which gets passed on to the diner.

Mayor Somjai and the Tourism Authority of Thailand have done wonders in the past couple of years in developing new ways of showing off Old Phuket Town at its best.

The walking street festivals have multiplied, each one a delight for food and fun.

Clearly, Phuket now has two after dark personalities: the west coast with its low life and high costs, taking in Patong, Karon and Kata, and the more pleasant, cultured east coast where Phuket City provides great southern-style and international food, especially at good value in the suburb of Sam Kong.

The more stomachs Phuket can win, the more hearts and minds will follow.