Gov to stay in Phuket for now

BANGKOK: Despite strong lobbying for Phuket Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi to be appointed Director of the Southern Border Administrative Center (SBAC), the Cabinet has handed the controversial job to the front-runner, Banyat Jansena. Muslim community leaders and teachers in the South of Thailand had lobbied for Gov Pongpayome to get the job because of his track record of dealing with community issues when he was Governor of Narathiwat. Banyat, a Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, was formerly Governor of Songkhla. The previous Director of the SBAC, Palakorn Suwannarat, resigned in mid-July amid criticism of his handling of a recent spate of bombings in the South, perpetrated by organizations claiming to be Muslim separatists.