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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.
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.