PHUKET CITY

Phuket city is the capital city of Phuket province, the largest island in Thailand. It’s situated in the south of Thailand. Phuket city is one of the world’s most famous tourist destinations and it is the region's economic, transportation, and cultural centre. Renowned for influencing other cities around the world with its tourism industry, Phuket city is famous for its astounding ancient temples and modern resorts that stand side by side to complement each other. Some of the places that make it famous include the amazing ancient Temples, Big Buddha, Wat Chalong, Old Phuket Town, Phang Nga Bay, and Patong Beach.

• Census in Thailand is done after every 10 years and 2010 was the last time that it was conducted. The next census is scheduled for 2020 in Thailand.
• According to the 2010 census, Phuket city had a population of 525,709. Compared to other cities in Thailand, Phuket city is considered to be more diverse.
• According to the 2010 census, 87.3% of the population is Thai based in Phuket city while across Thailand amounted to 97.5%. As one of the most diverse cities in Thailand, Phuket houses over 500,000 residents, who collectively speak over 5 languages, including Thai, English, Malay, Hokkien and of course English.

There are two tiers under local government in Phuket city. They are citywide and local tier. Citywide administration is coordinated by the Phuket City Municipality, while local administration is carried out by smaller authorities. The Phuket City Municipality consists of an elected mayor, who has executive powers, and the city council, who scrutinize the Mayor's decisions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The Municipality is responsible for strategic planning, policing, the fire service, most aspects of transport and economic development. On the other hand, the smaller local authorities are responsible for local services not overseen by the Municipality, such as local planning, schools, social services, local roads and refuse collection.

Phuket city has always been a commercial city and today enjoys the status of having one of the largest city economies in Thailand. The city thrives in trade and commerce and has a vibrant culture seeped in commerce. It has a GDP of over $4.9 billion, which is about 1.3 percent of Thailand's total GDP. The size of its economy is larger than that of several Asian nations. The Port of Phuket handles over 1.5 million tourists every year.

The Phuket city administration took positive steps with its draft Phuket city Infrastructure Plan 2030. It identifies a range of infrastructure priorities for Phuket city, from new energy, water and sewerage infrastructure, to enhanced digital connectivity and new road schemes. Some of the investment is provided by the private sector, through the privatized utilities. This has generally worked well in Phuket city, although business is particularly concerned at the lack of capacity in digital infrastructure. The take-up of high speed broadband by business is low compared to other world cities.

Phuket city is one of the most technologically advanced cities in Thailand. It has a huge number of financial transactions that take place electronically each day through it financial services industry. Because Phuket city relies on its financial sector so much, it has invested heavily in its communications infrastructure, and continues to do so, under the auspices of its private IT sector and other partners, such as the Phuket city Municipality. However, the technology industry that is part of Phuket city's economy is not simply there to support the financial services sector. It is a big player in its own right.