As Provincial Hall falls silent, Phuket Governor works on

PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut assured the public yesterday that everything is “business as usual”, despite the closure of Phuket Provincial Hall by protesters on Wednesday.

Governor Maitri explained that he was continuing his work outside the office.

“The main gate is closed and Provincial Hall is silent, just as the protesters requested, but I am still doing my job. My schedule has been reorganized to continue as usual, but outside the office,” Governor Maitri told the Phuket Gazette.

“Many meetings are planned to go ahead as scheduled. However, most departments I work with have called me to postpone the meeting or change the meeting venue,” he added.

“A few officers are still working at the hall, but most of our staffers did not come to work – we are considering when everyone should return on a day-by-day basis,” Governor Maitri said.

The closure of Provincial Hall followed thousands of protesters peacefully requesting government officers to abandon their posts as a way of supporting the ongoing rallies in Bangkok against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (story here).

Yesterday, all was silent at Provincial Hall, which serves as the center of operations for Phuket’s provincial government (story here).

“Civil Defense volunteers are patrolling the grounds 24 hours, and police are positioned around the hall,” Governor Maitri said.

Governor Maitri made his announcement at the opening of the Central Group’s massive new Thai Watsadu store on Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang, just north of the Heroines’ Monument (map here).

The store is Thai Watsadu’s 35th and reportedly the largest branch thus far in the Thailand. It employs 300 local people and represents an 800-million-baht investment (story here).

— Saran Mitrarat