Thaksin to fly in for 1-hour speech

PHUKET TOWN: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will fly from Bangkok on Thursday to make a one-hour speech at a national convention for members of Provincial Administration Organizations (OrBorJor). The PM is scheduled to open the two-day convention at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, starting at 9:30 am, with a speech on provincial government reform. About 800 OrBorJor members are expected to attend the event. Samroeng Chaisorn, Vice Chief Executive of the Phuket OrBorJor, said today, “This will be the first convention attended by every OrBorJor in the country.” K. Samroeng explained that the main objectives of the convention are to educate OrBorJor members about policies and laws, and how to create budgets to target specific concerns, such as education, anti-narcotics campaigns and sports. In addition, Peerachai Tritasawit, a Deputy Director-General of the Department of Local Administration, will be on hand to hear any grievances from OrBorJor members, in order to provide the national government with feedback from OrBorJor members.