“The main infrastructure is already finished,” said Natthawat Buaphut of the Phuket Provincial Public Works Office.
“We still have the interior, landscaping and other stages to go, but we are sure this project will be finished on schedule by May 2017,” he added.
The contract to build the new seat of provincial government, located on Tha Kraeng Rd, near Rama IX Park, was signed on September 9, 2014. Choonieow Team Ruampa Ltd Part was hired as the main contractor and work began immediately with a completion date of about three years.
The site was chosen after the provincial government lost a drawn-out battle with local people who vehemently objected to the new complex being built on the tennis courts and football field on Surin Rd, close to the existing Provincial Hall, which is more than 100 years old, cramped and inefficient, with no room to expand.
The campaigners against the project, led by Suratin Liam-Udom, a former Mayor of Rassada, and Rangsan Kongthong, a former member of the Phuket Provincial Council, produced documents to show that the land was not originally state land, but land donated by the King for public use. (See story here.)
After the new Provincial Hall is complete, the current – and original – Phuket Provincial Hall on Narisorn Rd will be converted into a museum.