Phuket governor dishes out money, advice

PHUKET CITY: After dishing out 156,000 baht in cash to some of the island’s poorest families at a ceremony at the Phuket City Municipal Offices this week, Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop dished out some advice.

Phuket’s poor must work harder, stop gambling and not spend so much time watching bird singing contests, the governor told his audience.

Otherwise, he said, foreigners would take their jobs.

Gov Wichai and other officials handed 78 families 2,000 baht each on behalf of the Phuket Social Development and Human Security Office at the ceremony on Tuesday morning.

Then his speech began.

“There are around 80,000 aliens such as Rohingya and Burmese living in Phuket now,” the governor said.

“Most of them work hard. More and more, they’re taking local people’s jobs, like rubber tapping,” he continued.

“They’re improving their lives and earning money,” he said.

Phuket people, however, were getting lazier and indulging themselves too much, Gov Wichai said.

“Don’t spend all your time watching bulbul singing contests. Stop spending your money on the lottery.”

“These activities will make you poor,” the governor concluded.

— Atchaa Khamlo