Registered population continues to rise

PHUKET: As of October 31, Phuket’s official population stood at 313,835 persons, up 880 from September 30. The rise follows a provincial campaign to increase the registered population of Thais living in Phuket, as officially tallied from household registration forms, or tabien baan.

Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase during the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Security Committee, held this morning at Katina Hotel in Wichit.

An extra 1,990 residents were added to the provincial scrolls in October, while 1,122 names were removed.

Muang District had the most new registrations (1,066), followed by Thalang (579) and Kathu (332).

Also contributing to the net increase were 92 babies being born during the period in the three districts, compared with 80 deaths.

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit began a registration drive shortly after taking office last year in order to more accurately report the population of Phuket so that the island will receive increased funding from the government.

The effort got a boost with official launch of Thailand’s first “mobile registration van” on November 8. The van will go into regularly-scheduled service next week.

The actual population in Phuket is believed to be about double the reported figure, with the discrepancy attributed to unregistered migrant workers.