Nowadays, public relations is important and crucial for every organisation, either public or private, as a tool to enable other people to learn how far an organisation has progressed. Most organisations are paying attention to P.R. activities. At the Hua Hin Municipality, for instance, the mayor Mr. Nopporn Wutthikul who has a determination to internationalise Hua Hin has recently considered more active P.R. strategies to achieve such goal. One of them includes the use of I.T. that helps facilitate faster information services and to promote of more public participation.
To do so, modern I.T. tools require improvement and information channels have to be widened. Responsibility for employing P.R. strategies and activities to carry out P.R. campaigns effectively is with the Local Information Service Unit of the Academic Service and Dissemination Division, Hua Hin Municipality. They have developed some active P.R. strategies under the project of information dissemination via various media channels and network building. Supervised by the deputy mayor of Hua Hin Ms. Bussaba Choksuchart, the P.R. strategies can be described as follows:
1. Restructuring contents of the official Municipality website: www.huahin.go.th, to use it as a main P.R. platform which also enables people to file their complaints apart from letting them know about the municipal work;
2. Disseminating information through the social media, especially the Facebook Fan Pages: “เทศบาลเมืองหัวหิน” and “Hua Hin PR”;
3. Producing the TV program, “Hua Hin Inside Out”, which will be broadcasted from Hua Hin Cable TV on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. This program aims to present various news and activities about Hua Hin and other useful information. Those who miss the program can re-view it on “HuaHinInSideOut” on YouTube or at the website: www.huahin.go.th;
4. From now until the end of September, 2015, the Municipality will use 2 radio stations in Hua Hin to provide local news.
The radio information will be broadcasted by Click FM 88.00 MHz and Mew Radio FM 89.50 MHz from Monday to Friday between 7.30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; 5. Allocating over 7 million Baht to buy a 6-wheel car equipped fully with multimedia equipment and a multipurposed information service counter with proper staff to disseminate information to people who live in remote areas of Hua Hin; 6. Using wireless automatic distant radio to disseminate information and news at 50 wireless radio spots in Hua Hin. The news dissemination will be daily from 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The public will be encouraged to stand up for the Thai national anthem at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. everyday as this is one of the Hua Hin mayor’s policies to promote nationalism and Thainess among Thai people; 7. Increasing the number of local news centers at local communities in Hua Hin where updated news can be obtained in printed forms or CDs.
At present, there are a total of 18 local news centres in the city; 8. Using five local newspapers to disseminate information and news about the Municipality: Siang Prachuab, Hua Hin Sarn, Hua Hin News, Prachuab Post and Prachuab Mirror, will publish the news on centerfold until September, 2015; and 9. Publishing a trimester journal, Hua Hin Thin Monkhlang (Hua Hin, the Charming City, in Thai), to disseminate information and activities of Hua Hin Municipality as well as other useful laws and regulations to both local people and foreigners.
Besides the above-mentioned, the Hua Hin Municipality is preparing a free handbook for local people which includes useful information on public services and news according to the Act of Public News and Information of B.E. 2540 (1997). Local community networks will be created and strengthened for effective information dissemination while, at the same time, a group of information service volunteers will be established.
The volunteers will provide news and information to those in remote areas and organise training to create better understanding about the P.R. work so that local people can access useful and updated information more easily, quickly and effectively. Anyone who has problems on the access to information and news provided by the Municipality can contact staff of the Local Information Service Unit of the Academic Service and Dissemination Division at the municipal office, tel. 032 511 047 ext. 101-102 and 220 from Monday to Friday at office hours.
