Governor vows to walk to work

PHUKET: To raise awareness about the worldwide Car-Free Day campaign tomorrow, Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut has announced that he will be walking from his house to his office. Unlike Trang Governor Chalermchai Preechanont, who told the press that he would ride a bicycle to work tomorrow, Governor Charnchai told the Gazette that he would walk instead. “It’s not very far from my house to the office. It should take less than 10 minutes.” Asked what other provincial officers will subject themselves to during the world-wide campaign to increase awareness of the need to save fuel and decrease dependency on cars, the governor said, “My deputy, Dr Sumeth Chaivanitkul, said he wouldn’t mind walking too.” Although Banyat Bantadtan, the Interior Minister, is not obliging provincial governors to observe the campaign, Governor Charnchai thinks that the Car-Free Day is a very good idea that should be repeated often. He urged Phuket residents to leave their cars at home and walk or cycle to work tomorrow – if they don’t have to travel too far. Governor Charnchai will leave his house before 8 am, but his driver will take his car to the office to whisk him off to appointments later in the day. “I think it’s too far for me to sweat all the way there [to the appointments],” he added. “So please, allow me to use my car.”