PM starts trip to eastern provinces

BANGKOK, Feb 5 (TNA) – Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha started his visit to eastern provinces of Trat and Chanthaburi, where the first cabinet retreat of this year will be held tomorrow. Gen Prayut today led his cabinet to the Baan Pred Nai Water and Mangrove Management Learning Center and Museum in Trat province. It is a community model for the management of the country’s second largest mangrove forest. The community solves the problem of informal debt through the management of the village fund, leading to sustainable development of community economy. Prime minister will also meet local entrepreneurs and villagers on Chang Island to listen to their proposal on eco-tourism development and garbage management. In the afternoon, he will head to Chanthaboon Waterfront Community in Chanthaburi province to visit local people and observe the operation of social enterprises, Waterfront Market, community learning center, and cultural tourist attractions. He will, then, chair a working dinner on economic and social development of the Eastern region at Maneechan Resort. On Tuesday, he will chair the first cabinet retreat of this year at Rambhaibarni Rajabhat University. In the afternoon, he will travel to Makham Agricultural Cooperatives in Makham district to observe one-stop fruit management process with an aim to become “World’s Fruit City”. The Prime Minister will also meet farmers and fruit processing entrepreneurs before returning to Bangkok. Gen Praut’s visit to the eastern provinces is aimed at pushing forward local development in parallel with promoting investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project. (TNA)