Phuket to get new governor

PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket for the past year, Charnchai Soontharamut, will move to a new post as Governor of Surat Thani Province on October 1, as part of a nationwide reshuffling of 34 governors and senior staff of the Ministry of Interior. He will be replaced by Pongpayome Vasaputi, currently the Governor of Narathiwat province, the southernmost province of Thailand, which has a mostly Muslim population. Gvernor Charnchai’s reassignment comes earlier than expected. Governors are normally reassigned once every four years, although exceptions are not uncommon when government policy requires it. Surat Thani is the largest province in the south, covering an area of approximately 12,900 square kilometers. It has 16 amphur and one sub-district.