All show and no meaningful or tangible substance.

[Alba]

All this talk about spending 200-300m THB on bringing in a couple of star performers to a New Year's Eve event on Phuket. Seriously?  Just another photo and publicity opportunity for those in power. All show and no trousers.

How about investing (rather than spending) that amount of money on things that might actually provide tangible and valuable benefits to both locals and visiting tourists? How about providing decent financial support to local families that have suffered huge financial challenges in the past 18 months.

I'd suggest that tourists would value and appreciate things other than a couple of famous singers performing for an hour.

How about, assembling teams of currently unemployed locals (and paying them) to clear the thousands of tons of single-use plastic, straws, bottles, bottle tops, slippers, lighters, and other waste from all of the West Coast beaches? They currently resemble rubbish tips and have been that way for months now. Does anyone actually care? 'Paradise' is a bit of a mis-nomer when what could be world-class beaches are filthy and strewn with garbage.

How about investing in a proper and modern public transport system that might make inroads into the number of road deaths by providing people a convenient and safe alternative to having to take a motorbike everywhere.

How about investing in education helping the impressionable youth to understand the benefits of taking proper care of their natural environment, thus reducing the current norm of simply throwing rubbish to the side of the road being travelled on - has anyone in officialdom here ever walked or cycled along any stretch of road (anywhere on the island) to witness the tons of discarded platsic bags, bottles, food containers?  All of the waste that finds itself in the waterways and then heading out to sea, only to then end up on a West Coast beach following a high tide and storm surge.

[mickkotlarski]

50 minutes ago, Alba said:

All this talk about spending 200-300m THB on bringing in a couple of star performers to a New Year's Eve event on Phuket. Seriously?  Just another photo and publicity opportunity for those in power. All show and no trousers.

How about investing (rather than spending) that amount of money on things that might actually provide tangible and valuable benefits to both locals and visiting tourists? How about providing decent financial support to local families that have suffered huge financial challenges in the past 18 months.

I'd suggest that tourists would value and appreciate things other than a couple of famous singers performing for an hour.

How about, assembling teams of currently unemployed locals (and paying them) to clear the thousands of tons of single-use plastic, straws, bottles, bottle tops, slippers, lighters, and other waste from all of the West Coast beaches? They currently resemble rubbish tips and have been that way for months now. Does anyone actually care? 'Paradise' is a bit of a mis-nomer when what could be world-class beaches are filthy and strewn with garbage.

How about investing in a proper and modern public transport system that might make inroads into the number of road deaths by providing people a convenient and safe alternative to having to take a motorbike everywhere.

How about investing in education helping the impressionable youth to understand the benefits of taking proper care of their natural environment, thus reducing the current norm of simply throwing rubbish to the side of the road being travelled on - has anyone in officialdom here ever walked or cycled along any stretch of road (anywhere on the island) to witness the tons of discarded platsic bags, bottles, food containers?  All of the waste that finds itself in the waterways and then heading out to sea, only to then end up on a West Coast beach following a high tide and storm surge.

You're not alone on these very relevant points. I've often thought about these things and why lazy public servants couldn't get off their backsides and actually make these ideas factual events.

Good comments Alba.