The protest came two days after another rally demanded the ouster of Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi.
Mr Plodprasop made a speech on June 2 in which he said, “I don’t want to do it [the convention centre in Phuket]. Why? Any problem? We will do it in the future when the people of Phuket see the good side of us and elect our man,” indicating that he sees Pheu Thai votes as the price for progress on the island.
The demonstration – leaders said there was no particular group or political party that organised it – demanded the government resign because its policies had “failed”.
Demonstrators carried placards saying, “Get out Red Crab” (a reference to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s nickname, Boo), and “Thailand does not need ThaksiNOmics,” and similar sentiments.
Manoo Kaewkram, a member of the Rak Phuket (Love Phuket) Group resurrected a decades-old call for Phuket to get special status like Bangkok and Pattaya, which both have locally elected governors.
“We want an elected governor, not someone sent here by the central government,” he said. “Our demonstration here today was a non-violent expression of the opinion of the people of Phuket.”
Jitrakorn Busba, a local DJ and TV host, said, “We don’t want the convention centre – we can make a perfectly good living without it.
“But what you [Plodprasop] said was an insult to Phuket as a whole.”