Patong Mayor Pian Keesin detailed seven priorities for his new municipal administration during a 26 September press conference at the offices of the Patong Tessaban, emphasizing education, tourism, quality of life and infrastructure to support tourism. Re-elected to the post in July, Khun Pian joined deputy mayors Chairat Sukkabhal, Prasarn Yordtor and Somchai Burarrak to announce the policies Patong’s government will follow for the next four years.

“After the team got the authority to take office (on 1 September), the committees of the Patong municipality approved a budget of about 11 million baht to design a new building for Baan Sainamyen School,” he said “The school was transferred from the Phuket Educational Service Area Office to Patong Municipality to be managed and supported as a bilingual school aiming to develop high-quality personnel in Phuket to support the island’s tourism industry.

“We will emphasize quality of life of adults with disabilities by supporting old-age pensions and offering services, as well as participating with all activities in the communities that build integrity among the people and being a part of and considering all of the developing plans and the allowances,” he added.

“People in Patong all have careers related to the tourism, so it is essential to support and develop tourism,” he continued. “Not only can we support tourism but also we can arrange events or activities to present a good image for Phuket and Patong.”

Deputy Mayor Khun Prasarn added that the 23rd Annual Patong Carnival honouring the opening of high season will run 15-20 December, after being postponed this year from its traditional time of early November. Patong Municipality will host the event, providing a 7 million-baht budget to fund the celebration.

“In the past the municipality hired an organizer to arrange the event, and the time that we celebrated the festival was quite short (about 3 days),” he said. “That period was often still raining a lot, and the tourists and other people could not participate. So this year the event will have some booths selling local products and food vendors that will continue after the carnival, from Christmas until New Year’s Eve.”

On health and infrastructure policies, municipal committees approved 5 million baht to improve roadways, and they started work on plans to relocate utility lines underground and to study the long-awaited Patong tunnel project. On environment, the mayor emphasized keeping Patong green by planting trees in public spaces and building public parks. The municipality is in the process of requesting around 69 rai of land for the purpose from the Agricultural Land Reform Office.

For the security and safety of tourists and residents, Pian concluded, the municipality will continue adding closed-circuit TVs to cover all areas of Patong.