The premier is concentrating more on a tsunami-warning system along the Andaman coast and developing more ferry ports to link with islands.

The government has no plans to proceed in the short term with southern mega-projects, including the Phuket Convention and Exhibition Centre, which won Cabinet approval three times during the Thaksin Shinawatra era.

Surayud and eight ministers yesterday visited Phuket to inspect the government's project on Andaman coastal development.

He said Phuket needed to solve environmental and wastewater problems instead of developing new projects. The province should seek to ensure tourists' security and tackle social problems, he added.

The government will not be reopening some small airports in the near future. The region has two main airports in Phuket and Trang, he said.

He also told southern provincial governors that the expansion of the highway between Ranong and Trang, as well as other roads, was not important at this moment.

"I would like to see small roads rather than wide ones because these small roads can attract more tourists, as happens in England," said Surayud.

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit said the building of a convention centre would enable the island to attract more quality tourists, particularly business travellers.

Trang Governor Anont Manaswanich urged the government to develop Trang Airport to meet higher demand. He also called on more airlines to operate routes to the province.

Ranong Governor Kanchanapa Khiman urged budget airline AirAsia to operate a Bangkok-Ranong route in order to bring more tourists into the area. She also wanted the government to build a highway to link with surrounding provinces.

Phang Nga Governor Winai Buapradit called on the government to support a project to build a tsunami memorial park, which would attract international tourists to the province.

He also urged the Bank of Thailand to expand soft loans for another two years as a way of helping businesses.

Surayud's visit to the South was aimed at addressing critical problems. He met with six governors yesterday in Krabi province and discussed tourism with related agencies.

The PM said the government would introduce more projects and measures to help the tourism sector.

In the short term, agencies would install more tsunami-warning systems along the Andaman coast in order to rebuild tourist confidence.

The government would also invest in installing closed-circuit television in all major tourist areas, airports, ferry ports and hotels.

Moreover, the government has urged the public and government bodies to keep areas clean.

Surayud said each province should develop its own tourism strategy instead of following the others.

"I would like to see each province develop its own direction, but the way should be based on the sufficiency economy," he said.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation

Krabi