Thailand's cabinet approves Phuket governor swap amid provincial conflict

Thailand's cabinet has approved a reshuffle swapping the governor of Phuket with a deputy permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry, in a move the ministry said was aimed at resolving an administrative crisis and severe internal conflict in the island province.

Under the June 16 cabinet decision, Phuket governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn was moved to the post of deputy permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry, while Chotinrin Kerdsom, a deputy permanent secretary, was transferred to lead Phuket province.

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the decision followed what he described as a governance crisis in Phuket, where internal disputes among provincial executives had become so intense that officials were publicly exposing one another and work was being disrupted. He said the governor swap was proposed by permanent secretary Unsit Sampuntharat to end conflict between the outgoing governor and his deputies.

The reshuffle came a day after Anutin ordered Phuket's two deputy governors transferred out of the province. Theeraphong Chuaychu was assigned as deputy governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Adul Chuthong as deputy governor of Songkhla, with the orders effective on Tuesday. They were replaced by Khetrat Charnsilp, moved from Samut Sakhon, and Ramadan Hayee-awae, from Songkhla.

The source also said the province was facing pressure from influential groups and so-called gray capital interests seeking to interfere in the management of public land at Bang Tao Beach, Freedom Beach and Nui Beach.

The changes followed a teleconference chaired by Anutin with provincial governors and their deputies. During the meeting, he pressed the two deputy governors over claims in local social media reports that one of them had influence to have the Phuket governor transferred if he stood in the way of illegal beach businesses allegedly backed by senior provincial officials.

According to the report, the reshuffle was intended not as a demotion but as a reset in a strategically important economic area that the government could not allow to remain mired in conflict.

The article said that, in legal terms, the posts of provincial governor and deputy permanent secretary are equivalent senior executive ranks in the Thai civil service, though their roles differ. A governor is the top regional administrator in a province, while a deputy permanent secretary serves as a senior central-government executive within the ministry.

Anutin was quoted as saying Nirat's transfer should be seen as an adjustment to a higher position in line with seniority. He also dismissed claims that a deputy governor could wield enough power to move a provincial governor.

The report framed the Phuket reshuffle as both an attempt to restore order in the province and part of a broader power balance between central and provincial administration within the Interior Ministry.