OrBorJor sets budget at B405m
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor) has set a budget for 2004-2005 of 405 million baht.
Members met on September 30 and voted unanimously for the budget, which is 42 million baht – 11.6% – higher than the one for 2003-2004.
Almost a quarter of the budget is earmarked for promoting Phuket as a tourist destination, and educational projects and programmes to improve local quality of life will receive spending allocations of tens of millions of baht.
More than three quarters of the budget – 312 million baht – will come from OrBorJor taxes. Vehicle tax accounts for 145 million baht of this, and Value Added Tax (including that paid by hotel guests) for a further 141 million baht.
Other revenue sources are the local tax on tobacco, which is espected to be 25 million baht; tin royalties (600,000 baht) and fuel tax (500,000 baht).
A further 93 million baht will come from “other sources”. A large chunk – 50 million baht – is expected to come from the controversial hotel rooms tax (which the OrBorJor refers to as a “charge”, not a tax).
The OrBorJor also expects to receive 11.9 million baht in rental income; 2.5 million baht from penalties payable by private companies that have broken contracts with the council, and 27 million baht in government grants.
K. Anchalee said 117 million baht of the budget would be used to stimulate the economy of Phuket and promote tourism, supporting government attempts to market Phuket as a world-class destination.
“This spending will include new projects, such as building a beautiful gate at Tha Chat Chai checkpoint, to give tourists a good first impression of Phuket,” she said.
Education will be a priority for the OrBorJor, she added, with 71 million baht being budgeted for educational programmes. Another 60 million baht will be spent on projects to improve the quality of life, and 25 million on protecting and improving the environment.
“This budget will be in line with our 2005-2007 plan to develop Phuket into a better place,” the President said. The fiscal year began yesterday (October 1).
