TAT Deputy slams tourism restructuring

PHUKET TOWN: Following many complaints about delays in tourism business and tour guide registrations, the Deputy Director of the local Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office yesterday criticized the shift of responsibilities to Bangkok in the government’s latest restructuring efforts. As of July 1, as part of a move to place the TAT under the authority of the Sports and Tourism Ministry, the registrations are supposed to be processed by the Office of Tourism Development (OTD) in Bangkok. The problem is, they are not. Deputy Director Napasorn Kakai, said, “I’d like to apologize to all the people who have been affected by this. We have been instructed to keep processing registrations for the time being. “However, the registration officers who used to work at the Phuket TAT office have now been transferred to Bangkok. “The OTD has been given the responsibility but the TAT still has to do the work,” she said, adding that processing registration applications required her office to inspect businesses, not just in Phuket, but also in Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, Phang Nga and Krabi provinces. “Our office can do all of these duties but the government must give the budget to the TAT, not cut our budget and give it to the OTD in Bangkok, which currently can’t do anything for tourism,” K. Napasorn said.