I believe half the reason he was appointed was to deflect from him. Helps Vance a lot. If polls are good in 2028 Vance can claim credit but if bad he can shift blame.
Actually most of the beach areas have been ruined by excessive tourism and not much good for non seafood food. The cities of Khon Kaen, Udon Thani have outstanding restaurants and cafes now. Plus direct flights to Chiang Mai.
Small country towns are boring everywhere unless you like gardening.
The business models seem to be flawed in a lot of places.
What you need is pretty simple
- coffee that people want ( if people want hot give em hot)
- food or snacks people want
- fair prices
- reasonable atmosphere