“I was not born here and I might not die here, but every second I spend as Governor of Phuket I will do my best for people in Phuket.” he told well-wishers at his welcome event on Saturday.
“When I was a little boy I dreamed that one day I would come to Phuket. In the end, I did not request to come here, but the Interior Ministry chose me to come,” Gov Chockchai said.
“But just because being in Phuket is like a dream come true, that does not mean I am on holiday. I will work, and I am very happy to work hard. This will make me happy and I assure you I will do my job the best I can for the people who live in Phuket,” he said.
Gov Chockchai noted that Phuket has “great potential and is known around the world”, but added that more work needed to be done to develop what Phuket has to offer, including in fresh produce.
“What we need to do next is to develop the things we have to become more valuable,” he said. “For example, at my previous post, Maha Sarakham, the local farms produce the best turkey in Thailand.
“In Phuket it’s lobster, and we should develop that as a product together. We should analyse market data to develop our products to create greater awareness of our products,” he added.
Gov Chockchai also pointed out the government policy to develop Phuket as a “Smart City”.
“This is good news for us because that we already know our province is famous around the world, but the one thing we should do is make efforts to people here happier,” he said.
The Prince of Songkla University (PSU) earlier this year announced the results of its annual “Happiness of the Communities” survey, in which Phuket people ranked the “least happy” in all of Southern Thailand. (See story here.)
The bad news for Phuket officials was that the results were forwarded to the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) for inclusion in the global World Happiness Report update for 2016. (See here.)
Gov Chockchai also pointed out, “I also would like people to know that I am not a heartless person, just a decisive person,” he said.