Phuket plans B15m OTOP Plaza

PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Community Development Office (CDO) has requested 15 million baht to build a permanent One Tambon One Product (OTOP) exhibition center to showcase OTOP products from Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga provinces. Naeb Sinthong, head of the Phuket CDO, told the Gazette his office hopes to site the center in a one-story building located behind Phuket Provincial Hall, on Narisorn Rd. The building is currently under the control of the Mineral Resources Department. If the central government accepts the proposal, the building will be transformed into an open-air OTOP Plaza that will have OTOP exhibitions permanently on display, and help reduce the traffic congestion that results from staging OTOP fairs in makeshift locations around the island. “If the government approves our request we will begin construction immediately and could have the OTOP Plaza ready within six months,” said K. Naeb. Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit told the Gazette that applications will be accepted from May 24 to June 4 for people interested in marketing their products through the OTOP scheme. Those interested should apply to the Phuket Provincial Community Development Office, which will select the most promising items and submit them for possible inclusion on the OTOP website at https://www.thaitambon.com. The site now lists 666 products, said V/Gov Niran.