Port information hotline launched
CHALONG: The Phuket Port Control Center (PPCC) at Chalong Pier has launched Thailand’s first 24-hour bilingual automated port information service as part of its Phuket ePort project.
By calling the Bangkok number Tel: 02-3659696, people can access information in Thai and English on port control procedures, contact details of government offices, and general information about Phuket.
Dr Rattana Wetprasit, Acting Manager of the Phuket branch of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), said that Sipa is looking to have online port services available by the end of September.
She explained that tourists, captains and crews will be able to go online to complete forms for Immigration, Customs, the Marine Department and the Chalong Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), which levies the mysterious “Phuket Waters Fee”, before they arrive in Phuket.
Dechakanee Leelanon, Chief Administration Officer of OrBorTor Chalong, said, “The one-stop service project should ensure that the [bureaucratic] process of arrival is shortened, and should also improve security.”
Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit later explained to the Gazette, “Every boat that comes to Phuket must be reported at the Chalong [one-stop center]. Boats may be moored elsewhere [around Phuket] but their crews and passengers must report in person at Chalong.
“We are currently liaising with marinas in Phuket to publicize [the reporting requirement] to the boating community. It is the provincial government’s policy to provide the one-stop service to make it more convenient for the boating community.”
