Details of the idea were revealed at a meeting held last Tuesday (February 3) to prepare official sectors across the island for the AEC which comes into effect later this year.
Governor Nisit said, “I believe that Phuket people are good at adapting to different situations.
“The upcoming AEC, which will blend us together with our nine neighboring countries who have different languages, cultures and traditions is a challenge for which we will have to be well prepared.
“Official sectors are still working in the Thai language only but I have ordered all official websites for Phuket be at least bilingual with Thai and English.
“Officers in all departments should be able to communicate in English. The Damrongtham Center is sure to have to deal with cases of foreigners, especially under the AEC,” he said.
Phuket’s tourism relies on major groups such as Chinese and Russian, and whenever these countries face an economic crisis, Phuket will be affected directly.
“There will be around 600 million members of the community. If we can make Phuket their destination, our economy will be more stable.
“Last year we made around B20 billion which is quite low compared to previous years. I think we should pay more attention to our neighbours,” said Gov Nisit.
He concluded by stating that Phuket gets low income from tourists of ASEAN countries. However, official sectors in Phuket as well as private businesses can help promote more of Phuket’s selling points to neighbouring tourists.
“For example, there are an average of 300 Chinese tourists per month who visit for health checks at Bangkok Hospital as they trust our service.
“There are European guests who return to hotels 13–14 times because they are impressed by the standards.
“We have the potential to develop in many ways, and we should present this to countries nearby,” he said.