At the meeting on Saturday (August 25) at Provincial Hall, were Phuket chief Livestock officer Wirasit Pootipairoj, civil service unit chiefs and concerned members of the private sector.
“Phuket covers a small area, yet has a large population, including many tourists, and the result is that the number of pigs raised here is insufficient for demand,” Mr Wirasit said.
He said the number brought to Phuket monthly from other provinces already totalled “about 5,000 – or more than half again the number raised here”.
The number that can be brought from other southern provinces also falls short of demand, he said, prompting Saturday’s meeting on what to do about the shortage.
Mr Wirasit said participants discussed whether it was necessary, and if so, possible to bring pigs from central Thailand in large numbers.
The consensus was that the quota from central Thailand must be increased – though “with no impact on existing local pig farmers, or at any rate with the least impact possible”.
Supplies of pork from farms on Phuket have dwindled in recent years as property developers and owners put pressure on farmers to reduce smell and pollution from their farms.
Several farms have simple closed down, and V/Gov Somkiat himself recently inspected a farm near Baan Manik after complaints about the smell from people living in a new housing development nearby.
– Source: Manager Online