Say hello to Phuket’s new man in charge: Governor Nisit

Nisit Jansomwong, 52, from Ratchaburi, landed on the island earlier this month to take up the position
of Phuket Governor. He has a master’s degree in administration from Chulalongkorn University, where he graduated with honors. Before coming to Phuket, Governor Nisit was governor of Ratchaburi province for one year.

Here, he talks about tourism’s importance and impact on Phuket and Thailand as a whole, and his dreams and goals for his new home province.

PHUKET: Phuket does very well, and without much help. The island is well-known internationally, even more so than Bangkok. As governor of Phuket – and because this is my new home – I want to encourage locals and residents to work together and continue pushing Phuket in the right direction.

Phuket is ours. We should be proud of our beautiful province.

I urge Phuket residents, both locals and those who have moved here to live and to work, to love the island as their home. When you are at home in a place, you feel the need to look after it and make it better for yourself and visitors.

More than taking care of the environment, we must also take care of each other. We must find a way for residents to live comfortably on the island. Tourism in the province lends itself to a very high cost of living. If residents aren’t happy, they won’t be able to make tourists happy.

I want tourists to love Phuket because of its kind, helpful and fair people. I want them to feel safe and enjoy their time here, and not feel like they have been taken advantage of.

We must work together to impress our tourists so they want to come back. While they are here, and also when they return home, they should be talking about the wonderful people of Phuket, not just the beaches and beautiful scenery.

These are my dreams as governor. We have a lot of work to do to make all this come true, but we are already off to a good start.

Phuket’s income is one of the highest in the country. I was recently informed just how many tourists visit Phuket. The fact that there are many millions every year highlights how important the island’s tourism market truly is.

I think private businesses, such as hotels and tour companies, could do a lot to boost and promote our tourism industry. Many of them are known worldwide, and they are often much better than government officers at marketing local tourism services.

The government can help by supporting these companies. Meanwhile, the government needs to develop within itself and push the province forward so it can support the growing number of tourists. We can do this by improving public safety and cleanliness, and developing public facilities.

I plan to work very closely with government officials, and make sure that every office on the island is moving in the same direction.

For now, all I can do is listen and learn. I am new here, and will certainly need help from the people who know what the problems are and have ideas about how to fix them.

The more we cooperate – government officials, private businesspeople, foreign residents and locals – the more we will be able to accomplish.

I cannot lead the province by myself. I need help from everyone to make our home a better place.