Phuket Employment Office closed due to anti-government protests

PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO), the island’s sole agency for issuing and renewing work permits for foreigners, has closed its doors today.

“We are following a request from protesters yesterday asking for all government offices to close. We are afraid that if we open, they will blockade our office,” PPEO Chief Yaowapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette.

“We will re-open if the situation changes. For the time being, the decision to re-open the office will be made on a day-by-day basis,” she added.

Ms Yaowapa asked that any foreigners in urgent need of contacting her office call 076-219 660.

“I have assigned at least one officer to stand by to answer the phones, just in case there is a problem we have to fix immediately,” she explained.

— Saran Mitrarat