In the morning, the prime minister will preside over the official grand opening of Chalong Underpass, Phuket Highways Chief Somwang Lohamut confirmed to The Phuket News yesterday (June 28).
The 350-metre long underpass, a B546mn-budget project more than three years and 11 months in the making, opened to traffic between May 31 and June 3 this year. (Read story here.)
Both lanes of the underpass will be closed from 7am for the grand opening which is due to take place between 10-10:30am.
The prime minister will then visit the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command at Cape Panwa for lunch before chairing a disaster response meeting at the Phuket Deep Sea Port at Ao Makham as part of the Integrated Disaster Management Exercise (IDMEx 2019: TSUNAMI), Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana confirmed today (June 29).
The meeting, hosted by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) under the Ministry of Interior, will focus on ensuring that the necessary preparations and training are in place in the event of a disaster on the island, such as a tsunami.
Also on the agenda is how government agencies, the private sector, the civil society sector and relevant charity organisations can work cohesively before, during and after a disaster, and how safe and panic-free evacuation practices can be communicated to the public.
The meeting follows DDPM-Patong's successful tsunami-evacuation drill on June 25. (Read story here.) Further evacuation drill exercises will be held at Phuket Deep Sea Port on July 4-6 followed by a review of the exercises on July 7, just days before the prime minister’s visit.
The meeting will also afford the prime minister the opportunity to observe the ongoing renovation of the Phuket Deep Sea Port before he returns to Bangkok late in the afternoon.
Phuket officials will meet with relevant agencies on July 1 to make the necessary preparations ahead of the prime minister’s visit. This will be his first visit to Phuket since he was was re-elected as prime minister by Parliamentary vote on June 5 this year.