Gov denies reassignment rumor

PHUKET: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi today scotched rumors that he will move from Phuket in October, saying that he wants to stay another year. Widespread rumors – which the Governor admitted had reached his ears – have predicted that he would leave in October’s annual rotation of government personnel. Some rumors even speculated as to the name of his successor. But Gov Pongpayome told the Gazette today in an exclusive interview that if he wanted to move, he would be the one to announce it, and he would be the one to announce the name of his replacement. “It depends on me whether I want to leave or not. I admit that I’m very tired from working in Phuket and I would like to relax, but I would regret it very much if I had to leave now,” he added. He admitted, that he was disappointed that his efforts in Phuket had not yet yielded the results he had hoped for. “I’m working hard to improve Phuket. It may look as if nothing is changing right now, but I think you will see results next year. It’s like growing a plant; in the first year you don’t see anything change very much, so you have to wait,” Gov Pongpayome added. “Everybody likes to get promoted and my next move will be a promotion because I have the seniority, but I still have six years to go before I retire. I’m in no hurry and I can live everywhere,” he added. He explained that, after six years as a governor, he is the most senior Level 10 official in the 14 southern provinces. “Given my seniority, many people seem to feel that I should be promoted this October. But in fact, there are nine others in the country with the same seniority, making them all eligible for promotion to Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Interior.” There was no reason the Ministry should move him, he said, adding, “Whoever wants to be the Governor here will have to wait until I am ready to move. So long as nothing unexpected happens, I want to go on working here for one more year. He laughed. “I don’t know if this is good news or bad news for other people.”