SIX MONTHS through 2010, how has Phuket fared? By our reckoning, much better than last year. If only the Andaman region could have skipped that Bangkok mess . . .

What damaged Phuket and the holiday coast most during the red shirt uprising were those needless national travel alerts. Was there ever any real danger to tourists, anywhere in Thailand?

Perhaps in Bangkok, yes, although tourists were never a target. On Phuket, in Khao Lak and in Krabi? Definitely not.

The whole country was subjected to a needless set of false alarms that were totally unwarranted. If the people behind the national alerts can discern that the four southern provinces are more dangerous because of the ongoing insurgency, then surely they should also be able to discern that Phuket and the Andaman provinces are far, far less dangerous. We'd call it ''safe.''

The travel alerts, needless and counterproductive, are what is now causing the Greater Phuket region's pain: job losses, increased crime, a tourism turn-off. And the unnecessary agony could be repeated again, unless the Bangkok diplomats wise up.

At least Germany and Taiwan got it right by declaring that, despite violence in Bangkok and potential turmoil elsewhere, Phuket remained s-a-f-e.

As well as providing the lowlight, the envoys also provided the year's highlight so far, with Phuket's first coordinated meetings of honorary consuls and embassy representatives taking place, with the Phuket Governor and top local officials.

The quarterly meetings, a suggestion from the German ambassador, have the potential to include expats and tourists in discussions about Phuket's problems and its future as never before.

Already the first benefits have been seen in calls for an efficient public transport system on Phuket and a reduction in the exhorbitant fares of tuk-tuks and taxis.

There's also now a transparency about deaths and crimes involving expats. That should reduce expat paranoia and xenophobia on both sides.

The local and national governments also now have the opportunity to reduce corruption on Phuket and elsewhere in Thailand before the keynote14th International Anti-Corruption Conference Council convenes in Bangkok in November.

And if corruption can be beaten, then Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi would certainly make an ideal site for World Expo 2020. With success of the bid and a strategic plan to right the mistakes of the past, Phuket could be among the world's best tourism destinations within the space of a decade.

That's the great outcome that could creep a little closer in the second half of 2010.