Laem Phromthep to get B20m facelift

RAWAI: Popular tourist site Laem Phromthep will be improved by a 20-million-baht beautification project spanning seven months, it was announced yesterday. Arun Sorot, President of the Rawai Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), said, “We plan to build a new car park first. It will take as many vehicles as the old one. Construction will begin in the middle of February.” In addition, he explained, the area will be improved with landscaped gardens, the public toilets will be refurbished and a police box will be built on the promenade. K. Arun added that the OrBorTor will be less lenient on hawkers in the area than it has been up to now. “We don’t permit everyone to sell their wares at Laem Phromthep, just in the shops near the car park. “However, there are some people who break this rule. We don’t have enough officers to deal with them, so we will ask the police to help us,” he said. Shopowners at the cape will have to pitch in, too. They will be told to replace their shop signs with neater ones, and will be required to keep the area free of trash and to charge fair prices, K. Arun said. The project, funded by the central government’s Phuket International City 2003 plan, will be carried out stage-by-stage so that Laem Phromthep can be kept open during the renovation.