PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has forecast a ''green'' Phuket with the Andaman provinces cooperating to win back quality tourists to make the most of a 2.2 billion baht government spend.

And she rejected false, inflated figures that tout tourism and increase unrealistic expectations for investors and visitors.

The PM's positive views would have pleased most of her influential audience at an ''Amazing Andaman'' conference at the Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra resort yesterday.

In a revelatory speech, PM Yingluck emphasised the need for sustainability as the key to the future of Phuket and the region.

''Krabi is so appealing because it doesn't have beach lounges, umbrellas, vendors or jet-skis,'' she said. ''We need to look at the markets for the Andaman and tap the middle and high end customers.''

Seminars would be required to use the expertise of airlines and resort managements to target the groups that enjoy the Andaman, and to make sure plenty of greenery remains for the future.

Resorts, spas, food outlets and local specialists all needed to aim for the high end, she said.

With 29 destinations singled out for special treatment throughout Thailand, PM Yingluck named the five in the Andaman as Phi Phi, Patong, Ao Nang, Old Phuket Town and Cape Promthep.

What unites the five is heavy tourist traffic and the prospect of a deterioration in quality over time.

''Our government also wants to see the integration of the Andaman group to preserve the ecology and to promote ecotourism,'' she said.

As much as 2.2 billion baht would be spent promoting the Andaman as one of the world's great green destinations.

Yet the region still needed extra funding for safety and security, transport and other infrastructure.

Supachai Weraphuchong, managing director of the Phokeethra Group, said that the Andaman provinces competed for customers and the fighting had to stop for the whole region to progress in a strategic fashion.

''What we really need to build is nature,'' he said.

He noted that reports that Krabi attracts 2.3 million visitors a year were a gross exaggeration - as are many of the fake figures that exaggerate Phuket tourism, carried without care by local media.

''We have to get realistic,'' he said. ''There is no point in basing the future on false data. Let's not kid ourselves.''

One of the key issues in Krabi was keeping good staff. Often, they went to better-paid jobs in Phuket or Samui.

Tossapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, forecast a time when Krabi could join Phuket as a regional hub.

''Phuket airport is full,'' he said. ''We cannot expand there because there are no more flight slots.

''It's also like Pattaya. People pay top money for environments that are not crowded, that do not have beach umbrellas, beach vendors and jet-skis.

''Everybody is trying to get back to nature. Some will find it more difficult than others.''

He said that next year, AirAsia hoped to lift its Bangkok-Phuket flights from eight a day to nine a day while he hoped Bangkok-Krabi flights would rise from three a day to five a day.