Soft opening for Phuket Welcome Gate
TAH CHAT CHAI: About 1,000 elderly people from around Phuket took part in an Elderly Day Ceremony at the Phuket Welcome Gate last Wednesday to preserve Thai culture during Songkran and encourage people to realize the importance of elderly members of the community.
Although the official opening for the Welcome Gate has yet to be organized, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) Vice-President Suthep Thepsakul said that the elderly day ceremony marked the venue’s soft opening.
“We haven’t decided when the grand opening day for Gateway will be as we are very busy and the work is still not complete, we still need to do landscaping. This elderly day ceremony will be the one activity that introduces the Gateway to Phuket people and tourists,” he said.
Construction of the Welcome Gate began late 2005 on 25 rai about 300 meters from the Sarasin Bridge with the budget of 46.67 million baht from the OrBorJor.
The complex comprises six offices, areas for stalls selling OTOP (One Tambon One Product) goods, 29 seven-meter-tall concrete pillars with passages explaining Phuket’s history in Thai and English engraved on them, and a 21.8-meter tall granite sculpture.
