When meeting Vice Governor Prajiad Aksornthamkul, Ambassador Osman Bulent Tulun said, “Phuket is a beautiful province and Turkish people are very much interested in visiting the island. Phuket welcomes about 20,000 Turkish tourists per year, and we have two flights per days leaving from Turkey for Bangkok.
“However, there have been some complaints sent to my office by people who have travelled here that I would like to share. And I would like Phuket officials to take these complaints on board and find to solutions to resolve them,” he said.
“Many Turkish tourists have complained about the airport being overcrowded. They also pointed out about communication problems with officials. And lastly, complaints were made about the immigration checkpoint process where tourists said officials often request more documentation in addition to their with passports. This was especially the case for families with children and it caused inconvenience for them,” he added.
V/Gov Prajiad explained that some issue raised by Ambassador Osman will have to be raised at a meeting so that solutions can be found.
However, he did tell Ambassador Osman that he understood the problem with the airport and explained that 300 flights arrive at the airport per day and that each takes only 7-8 minutes to offload.
“I think it will get better once the new terminal opens,” V/Gov Prajiad said.
“We are pleased to have so many Turkish tourists visiting Phuket as this helps to boost the economy. Turkey is a place which connects with many European countries and our relationship with Turkey will definitely help the Thai economy,” he added.