Bhumjaithai silent on pledge for Phuket ‘Special Economic Zone’
Despite being a centrepiece of the party’s election campaign, no formal proposal has been tabled in parliament, no legislative framework has been made public and no timeline has been set ‒ leaving a widening gap between…
Deputy Prime Minister Supajee Suthamphan’s pledge to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Phuket, a centrepiece of Bhumjaithai Party’s election campaign, remains without formal progress more than two months after the national vote. No draft legislation, policy framework, or implementation timeline for the SEZ has been submitted to parliament or made public as of April 19, despite mounting public interest in how Phuket’s estimated B500 billion annual tourism revenue is managed.
Lack of Legislative Movement and Party Response
Repeated attempts by The Phuket News to obtain clarification from Bhumjaithai representatives and Ms Supajee since February 10 have gone unanswered. No SEZ bill has been tabled, and no operational details have been released, leaving the proposal at the level of campaign rhetoric, opposition MPs said.
Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee confirmed that as of April 3, there had been no formal move to bring the SEZ proposal before parliament. He described the absence of concrete action as typical of political campaigning, rather than a sign of imminent reform.
Alternative Initiatives and Policy Divide
The Interior Ministry’s March 9 public hearing introduced a “Hometown Tax” scheme, which would allow up to 10% of income tax collected in an area to be spent locally. This mechanism has already enabled tax-incentivised donations in Phuket, such as funding for Vachira Phuket Hospital’s new cancer treatment centre.
Both MP Chalermpong and fellow Phuket MP Somchart Techathaworncharoen argued that such measures fall short of meaningful decentralisation. They pointed to a competing initiative from the People’s Party, which has submitted nine draft decentralisation laws focused on expanding local governance, including granting local governments authority over borrowing, bond issuance, and budget management.
The SEZ proposal’s lack of detail stands in contrast to the People’s Party’s approach, which seeks to restructure local governance through three pillars: administrative authority expansion, increased revenue powers, and enhanced financial control. Previous efforts to create a Phuket-specific governance model, such as the Phuket Metropolitan Administration Act, have failed to overcome legal hurdles.
Source: https://www.thephuketnews.com/bhumjaithai-silent-on-pledge-for-phuket-special-economic-zone-99885.php
