Joining the event to welcome Mr Rewat back to the provincial halls of power were Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew, PPAO councilors, and a host of other officials.
Mr Rewat gave a speech outlining his promises and policies.
Mr Rewat explained that his announcement this morning was to inform all PPAO councilors about the policies and framework for administering the island.
“All our policies came from the problems [that need fixing] and the needs of the local people,’ he said.
Mr Rewat also promised to do his best as PPAO President and to make the PPAO ‘an organization with good service as priority’.
“We will work and brainstorm with other officials to improve people’s lives,” he said.
“I will work with the high moral principles and goals needed to develop the island’s infrastructure, people, and the whole province. I will also adopt the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy to develop Phuket under the slogan ‘Phuket is safe, and modern, with a creative economy’,” he said.
The PPAO will focus on nine main issues to develop the island, he said: local administration, tourism and economic development, public health, education, quality of life, infrastructure, information technology, natural resources and protection from corruption.
The nine issues are based on the policy framework under the Provincial Administrative Organization Act B.E. 2540 and other relevant laws, Mr Rewat explained.
“All the works will be conducted with honesty and will be transparent in order to be easily examined, in order to provide the highest benefit to Phuket people,” he said.
Governor Narong said, “The Phuket Porvincial Government congratulates Mr Rewat and all councilors for being elected. We are ready to work with and support each other to develop the 18 subdistricts [on the island.
“All officials will all work together and move forward to make this island great again,” he said.
The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) earlier this month dismissed a complaint filed against Mr Rewat and confirmed him to be the new president of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO, or OrBorJor) after he secured victory in the PPAO election held on Dec 21.
The Phuket office of the Election Commission of Thailand (PEC) initially declared Mr Rewat the winner of the election, confirming that he had secured 83,144 votes.
Mr Rewat had bested second-placed contender Jirayut Songyot, who secured 50,914 votes, the PEC reported at the time.
Representing the Phuket Yatdai Party (“Phuket Trustworthy Party”), Mr Rewat is already nearly a household name across Phuket. He has already served the island as a Member of Parliament for the Democrat Party and throughout the COVID-19 crisis has served as assistant secretary to Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha.