Phuket encouraged to seek special administrative status

With the new Phuket governor scheduled to take over next month, the current governor is pushing for his successor to continue to support the proposal to make the island a special administrative zone with an annual budget of more than 10 billion baht.

- MOLPASORN SHOOWONG

"This is a critical moment to designate Phuket a special administrative area, similar to Bangkok and Pattaya," said Sophon Suwannarat, the Phuket governor set to retire this month.

Last year, the island welcomed more than 13 million tourists, generating 497 billion baht in revenue.

He said Phuket earned a large sum from tax collection and distributed the income to the central government, but receives roughly 170 million baht per year for a development budget.

For many years, infrastructure projects such as roads and a cancer hospital were largely supported by investment from private operators.

Though Phuket is expecting more than 16,000 new property units next year, the province still lacks sufficient infrastructure, said Mr Sophon.