Phuket Town lights up with LED streetlamps

PHUKET: More than 1,000 low-energy LED lights have been installed on the streets of Phuket Town to replace last-century sodium streetlamps, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana announced over the weekend.

The LED lamps – numbering 1,176 in total – were installed last week as part of the nationwide “Road to LED” project that aims to cut down on public electricity usage in major towns throughout Thailand, she explained.

“Phuket Town and Samui are the only two places in Southern Thailand that are participating in this pilot project,” said Ms Somjai.

The main goal of the project is to cut down on the usage of electricity, she added.

“Last year, streetlamps burned up more than 2 billion units of electricity in Thailand. These LED lamps are expected to use only 60 per cent of the electricity used by sodium lamps,” said Ms Somjai.

Installing the new lamps along selected streets of Phuket Town cost 23 million baht.

“We have signed an eight-year contract with the Provincial Electricity Authority to install and maintain the LED lamps,” Ms Somjai said.

“If the project is a success, it can be expanded to other places in Phuket, with other local administrations organizing their installation.”

A formal ceremony to mark the “handing over” of the streetlamp project will be held at Surin Circle (the Clocktower Circle) on January 28, starting at 5pm.

— Khumpee Prasertphol