The emphasis of the zippily-named 'Tasty Food Fair Without Alcohol Phuket Town' will be on “tastiness, convenience, safety – and absence of liquor or beer,” said Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansuppana.
The annual fair is the 15th organised by the municipality at Saphan Hin, on the southern edge of Phuket Town, but is the first to be completely teetotal.
“The aim of organising this fair,” the Mayor explained, “is to enhance the incomes of food vendors and increase their bottom-line sales.”
The event will be held at Saphan Hin's Public Park, and will be open from 4pm to 11pm from September 14 to 22.
Booths will be operated by members of the Phuket Food Vendors Association. “The association this year proposed that no alcohol be allowed,” she explained, “to encourage children and young people to stay away from alcohol and beer and turn instead to healthy foods.”
Vendors are also being encouraged to use no monosodium glutamate, ascorbic acid or food preservatives in their offerings, though those substances have not been banned outright.
The city’s public health officer will inspect shops nightly to ensure cleanliness is maintained, and the use of plastic food containers has been forbidden.
Roughly 100 booths will be opened, with cooks concentrating on Phuket recipes.
There will also be stalls selling One-Tambon-One-Product (OTOP) handicraft goods.
Entertainment will come in the form of demonstrations of how local Phuket dishes are made, a “diving competition” into ‘nam prik goong siab’, the famous fiery local shrimp cocktail, and stage performances by students from local elementary and high schools.
Later in the evening performances by “top Thai pop stars” are also promised, including the sexy Dear Ti Sip, O Para, Dalah Sao Satul and Zuzu, along with the comedy troupe Teng Noi Copy Show.