Still no decision on ICEC site
PHUKET: After four years of wrangling, the location of Phuket’s much-touted International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) is still very much up in the air.
In response to an enquiry from the Gazette about how the ICEC project is progressing, the director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Suwalai Pinpradab, said the decision on where the ICEC should be sited had been delayed because the Cabinet – which would make the final decision – had changed since February’s general election.
K. Suwalai said that Saphan Hin, Nai Yang or Mai Khao are still in the running as possible locations. “It is still not clear which place they will choose,” she said.
Various sites across the island, from Tah Chat Chai in the north to undeveloped Koh Maphrao have been put forward as possible locations in the four years since the ICEC was first suggested.
A year ago, the provincial authorities and the TAT asked the government for 2.5 billion baht to build the center at Saphan Hin, but no progress was made. In mid-November, a frustrated Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapallop, on a visit to Phuket, stated that a location should be chosen “within one month” of his visit.
