PLC President Prathaiyut “Nut” Chuayuan told The Phuket News this morning, “We have signed the [one-month] contract.”
The deal is a last-minute stopgap measure after it was revealed in The Phuket News on May 10 that, with the existing contract due to expire today (May 27), little had been done by OrBorJor officials to organise a new one.
Officials admitted earlier this month that it would take until the beginning of July before the bidding process for a new one-year contract could be completed, leaving Phuket with no lifeguards in June, one of the most dangerous months of the year along the island’s beaches.
A call for tenders has now been issued by the OrBorJor, which has promised that a service provider will be chosen and signed up by June 28 for the following 11 months.
The OrBorJor is offering an 11-month contract that will pay B20 million for the salaries of 108 lifeguards and the equipment they need to rescue people from the sea. This may seem like a large amount, but after the equipment is paid for, the lifeguards will get salaries of B11,000 to B25,000 a month, depending on experience.
It seems unlikely that any organisation apart from the PLC will make a bid, and even the PLC is unhappy about the idea of a one-year contract.
“Honestly, I am worried about this,” said Mr Prathaiyut. “It is not easy to find people to do this job and a one-year contract [in this case 11 months] does not offer job security.
“I have been telling the OrBorJor since last year that we need a three-year contract.”
Paiboon Upatising, president of the OrBorJor, told The Phuket News, “For now, we have signed a short-term contact for lifeguard coverage for a month. I can confirm that Phuket’s beaches will have lifeguards for sure.”
But, he added, “The OrBorJor cannot hire a lifeguard provider for three years because we are obliged by law to make plans and budgets that run from year to year.”
An official explained that in some cases, longer service contracts can be signed. For example, the contract for running the OrBorJor hospital is for five years. But for multi-year contracts the OrBorJor must apply for parliamentary approval, and success will depend on whether MPs regard the service as essential.
Mr Paiboon added that he was reluctant to award a contract of longer than one year because he worried that inflation might have a bad impact on lifeguards tied to a fixed salary for three years.
Between May 28 last year and the end of April this year, 882 people were saved by the lifeguards – an average of 80 a month.