Phuket tourism operators hope the right to vote for their own provincial governor will help solve prolonged local issues as the island still needs tailor-made policies to address specific problems, such as the taxi mafia.
The Move Forward Party, which won the majority of seats in parliament on Sunday, has proposed administrative reform which includes elections for provincial governors that allow people in other provinces besides Bangkok and Pattaya to choose their own governor.
Suksit Suvunditkul, president of the southern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, said apart from urgent measures to help relieve the cost of living burden for the public, such as high electricity bills, the new government should implement a long-term plan to tackle environmental issues in Phuket as more tourists have started to return to the island.
He said solid measures to help reduce carbon emissions, such as carbon credits, which allow stakeholders to take part could be one of the priorities that the government should implement to let the carbon credit market grow further.
However, he said other critical problems in the area, particularly the taxi mafia, might not be easily solved unless the province has more authority to tackle this issue via its own elected provincial governor who would have more power to eliminate these problems.
"Adopting a one-size-fits-all approach might not be appropriate. Each destination has its own unique problems that centralised policies cannot fix. Phuket should have full authority in local administration because in the past there have been a lot of lost opportunities due to inappropriate regulations," he said.
For example, tourism zones such as Bangla Street, which is not a residential area in terms of locals, should be authorised to open after 2pm to stimulate spending among visitors.
Under an elected provincial governor, they could set up regulations to assure the safety of tourists and tackle outstanding issues such as the local mafia better than an appointed administration.
Santisuk Klongchaiya, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, said the carrier hopes the election would end up with Thailand having an established government to drive the country forward.
The most urgent agenda for the tourism industry is to rebuild confidence in terms of safety as tourists from some countries, such as China, have been reluctant to choose Thailand due to such problems.
Mr Santisuk said the aviation business is facing obstacles from the delayed permission for the import of aircraft -- an issue the new government needs to address as soon as possible.
It should accelerate the certification of more overseas maintenance, repair, and overhaul stations to let local airlines have more choices when it comes to repairs as well as negotiating with other countries to increase flight quotas.
