Last month saw the sixth tri-monthly Honorary Consuls Meeting held at Phuket Provincial Hall.

Diplomatic representatives from Britain, Australia and many others of the Phuket expat nations were in attendance, including long-standing German consul of Phuket, Dirk Naumann.

Although if it had been up to Mr Nauman, who is widely recognised as the most pro-active, opinionated and by his own admission ?frustrated? of consuls, he probably wouldn?t have gone:

?I am not a diplomat, I am a working man, so if I go to a meeting and problems are discovered and are acknowledged by all attending, then I expect the problems to be resolved. Otherwise what?s the point??

Mr Naumann did make it known that those were solely his views and not representative of the German ambassador or government.

?The German ambassador and diplomats in general feel that these channels of communication should be kept open, but I personally find the current situation very frustrating, especially the behaviour of certain government officials at the recent meeting,? said Mr Naumann.

Apparently during the most recent meeting, when the question of why a tuk tuk trip to Phuket International Airport is 5?7x the cost of one to Bangkok Airport in an air conditioned taxi was posed, a high ranking government official allegedly said, ?Because tourist visitors to Phuket are rich.?

Mr Naumann believes that if this is indeed the view of the lower echelons of Phuket government officialdom, then regardless of how efficient the current Governor of Phuket is, things are unlikely to change.

?The whole government system is so confusing; Orbortors, Tessabans, governors, police superintendants and mayors. No-one is really aware of the hierarchy or correct division of power, so no-one can really tell any of the other factions what to do.?

Two solutions are therefore offered by Mr Naumann: ?Instead of only Patong being made a city, I think the whole island should have been awarded ?City Status? so that all of the officials, not just the ones in Patong have to be elected through a democratic process.?

The second is rather bolder and would almost certainly solve the problem, but is unlikely to happen, ?If I was a dreamer, I think what should happen is that we should get rid of all the government officials and Phuket officers from the island and start over again.?

But for the time being, Mr Naumann will continue attending the meetings, the next of which is scheduled for 21 August and, and remains frustrated, yet thankful for the existence of the Honorary Consul Meeting.

?If you look at it from a diplomat?s view, the exchange in itself is a huge step forward that I think should not only be adopted in other parts of Thailand but all over the world that has substantial numbers of foreign people requiring accountability and representation.?

Mr Naumann added, ?However if you look at it not from a diplomat?s view, then I believe very little has actually been achieved.?

He cites unchanged Phuket problems that are all too familiar including the extortionate fares and threatening behaviour of the Phuket tuk tuk and taxi drivers.

?I can?t understand how the province of Phang Nga can ban jet skis, but Phuket cannot. I cannot understand how the government can allow blockades at the Deep Sea Port, when all it would require is 200 police officers to arrive at the port a few hours before to cordon off the area.?

Failing to understand how and failing to understand why no-one is attempting to change are two very different things and one that the German Consul is aware of, ?Although Governor Tri is doing a good job, his powers are limited. A few months ago, he received a letter from the Prime Minister telling him that he did not want to see a repeat of the blockade incident, but five days later, the same thing happened again.?

Thankfully Mr Naumann also remains remarkably hopeful and last month?s pledge to ?fix? Phuket?s troubles by the Bangkok-sent Deputy Ministry of the Interior, Prania Suwanrath, may mean he has reason to be so<.

?It?s most welcome,? said Mr Nauman, ?they?re all aware of the problems, but will they have an answer or solution to them? I hope so.?

As, many of us do Mr Naumann?