Don’t Blame Me: Deputy PM defends handling of COVID crisis

By The Phuket News

 

Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit at the meeting in Phuket yesterday (July 26). Photo: PR Phuket

 

PHUKET:-- Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit went on the defensive yesterday after being forced to face a slew of complaints from leading Phuket figures pointing out the lack of support from the central government to help people and businesses on the island suffering from the COVID-19 economic crisis.

 

Deputy PM Jurin, who also serves as the Commerce Minister, was in Phuket to hear firsthand the current economic situation in Phuket. He got it, with no room for any misunderstanding.

 

The clearest description of the current situation on the island came from Phuket Tourism Council President Sarayut Mallam, who pleaded for members of the Cabinet to visit the island to see the economic damage for themselves.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/dont-blame-me- deputy-pm-defends-handling-of-covid-crisis-76804.php

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2020-07-27

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 

 

LOL. The wouldn't be able to handle a Prime Minister Question Time session in the UK!

I was right in another thread there are more deputy prime ministers than generals these days are they acting as Prayut's shield in the game of it wasn't me honestly   ????

15 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

who pleaded for members of the Cabinet to visit the island to see the economic damage for themselves.

Probably come on the 50% off weekend and prove them wrong

The comments are biased and present a situation different than the reality.

 

Phuket stands out like an inflamed carbuncle. In all the years of TVF, do people not recall the lurid tales of jet ski scams. motorbike ripoffs,  trafficking in humans and wildlife, taxi mobsters, illegal hotel construction, illegal beach encroachment, airport arrival immigration payment allegations etc. Overall, Phuket has been distinguished by decades of allegations of corruption and characters of questionable character.

 

Try as they might to clean things up, the central government always came up against resistance from local authorities. The central government disbursed large sums of money for local improvement,  but often the monies seemed to grow legs and be allocated away from the intent. During the Covid 19 crisis, the central government has been proactive and generous with its disbursements, trying to get the money into the hands of the locals who needed it. Overall, I believe the central government did a good job in that regard, and there was a sincere and genuine effort to help those in need.

 

Now we  have a statement reported as "Phuket is hurt more than other provinces. We are ready to welcome tourists and we have asked to be able to manage our own affairs, but there has not been any response to this at all".    I read this as the local officials wanting to gain access to the central government funds and the central government being wise enough to block it. Phuket has shown that it  cannot manage its own affairs, because if it could none of the  most blatant displays of corruption would have been ongoing for decades.  Never in all of the years did the local authorities make a  real effort to control the jetski thugs of patong or  stop the illegal beach encroachments.There was always an excuse. And now they complain that the central government won't allow them access to  the  money intended to help those in need. 

I hope the  central government does not  give in. Maybe if the local leeches  starve they will be weakened and can finally be be cut out. 

 

Tourism in Phuket was suffering long before Covid19. It is the legacy of the absence of a responsible development plan, the overt and rampant corrupt practices and the environmental degradation. Blaming the central government is a convenient way of escaping Phuket's own local responsibility.

 

 

 

It is all the people without jobs now that truly need help and many of those are back up country putting extra burden on their families whereas before they were able to relieve the burden by sending money back home.

But, Phuket does need to come up with a cohesive plan to diversify away from being tourism dependent & not just keep demanding funds to continue the same old destructive tourism behaviour.