U-Tapao stays on course to becoming aviation hub in future

[webfact]

U-Tapao stays on course to becoming aviation hub in future

By The Nation

 

 

The development of U-Tapao Airport and Eastern Aviation City is set to take off after U-Tapao International Aviation Co Ltd (BBS Group) signed a joint investment agreement with Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand (EECO) on June 19, with the goal of making U-Tapao an aviation hub.

 

EECO has revealed that the Covid-19 outbreak has had only a slight impact on the aviation city project. Experts in the aviation industry who are advising the office said that regardless of what people say travel is an inevitability.

 

Many parties estimate that within two years from now, air travel will return to normal. At the same time, transportation is becoming more important and air transportation will return soon, so the aviation city is still important.

 

The development of the U-Tapao Airport will take four years. When the construction is completed, it will be a time when air travel would be expanding, an important opportunity for the aviation city.

 

The crisis of Covid-19 will make the aviation business model change from using very large aircraft to the use of medium-sized jets with more flying frequency. So, the airport's detailed design may be adjusted based on the frequency, the size of the plane and changing customer behaviour.

 

Meanwhile, there have been no bids for the proposed maintenance, repair and overall centre in the first round yet, but Thai Airways International plc has to build this aircraft repair centre since it has demolished the old Map Ta Phut to enlarge the runway area of the airport.

 

However, in the EEC, there will be other aircraft repair centres that will be open for bidding. There are still many private companies interested. From the analysis, it is seen that air travel must return to normal and Thailand will be an important aviation link in the region. The growth of the aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region will make maintenance in the region more valuable than returning to Europe or the United States. However, the plan may be somewhat delayed due to the virus.

 

In terms of attracting investment in high-tech industries, although Thailand has many strengths such as infrastructure, communications infrastructure in technology, 5G network that will be used in 50 per cent of the EEC in 2021 and accelerating the development of highly skilled personnel, there is a weakness in international trade and investment agreements that are less than competitive, especially the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement of Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Thai-European Free Trade Area.

 

The EECO officer said that Investors asked a lot about the time frame of action, especially on the EU FTA because it is a very important market and Vietnam has already signed these agreements.

 

According to discussions between EECO and investors coming into the target industry, they want to know about highly skilled workers to support advanced technology. Thailand has started to develop skilled labour to support future investments. The free trade area is a secondary issue that investors asked about.

 

The 4-5 industries that came to consult with EECO are mostly in the biological industry and the new advanced material technology industry, such as the use of sugarcane to produce fibres for durable use in the high-tech industry, which involves high technology.

 

In addition, EECO has worked with Japanese high-tech companies who are going to move out of China while the Board of Investment has constantly revised the package to pull more investment.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30390038

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-06-22

 

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[yellowboat]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

In addition, EECO has worked with Japanese high-tech companies who are going to move out of China while the Board of Investment has constantly revised the package to pull more investment.

The constant revisions are probably due to tariffs.   The supply chains are not going to leave China anytime soon.  Japanese are doing their do diligence to find all the Thai Government's gotchas .  The military seems to really want this.  

 

Every story sounds so pro government these days.  

[Pedrogaz]

Yet another hub? We will be the hubs of so many things soon. 

[transam]

Just now, Pedrogaz said:

Yet another hub? We will be the hubs of so many things soon. 

They will cap it soon.....????

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

U-Tapao stays on course to becoming aviation hub in future

That remains to be seen.

[Darkside Gray]

7 hours ago, hotchilli said:

That remains to be seen.

 

7 hours ago, hotchilli said:

That remains to be seen.

Agree! i cannot see it happening, why would anyone spend money on a military base?

[Andy from Kent]

22 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Yet another hub? We will be the hubs of so many things soon. 

 

I see the humour as well, mate,  but unless you're a Thai  citizen, I don't get the "We" part of it.   

Thailand is Thailand and falangs are not a part of we IMHO.

 

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Andy from Kent

[DrTuner]

Feeder traffic to Singapore would be good. Then I would have no need to go to swampy.

[spidermike007]

The dreaming continues. These ministries consider Thailand to be the center of the universe. The world cannot live without Thailand. The level of superiority within Thailand and Thai society on so many levels is obvious. The world sees that, right?

 

No. Wrong. The world can live without that which Thailand has to offer. And the world is a different place, post Covid. Tourism was already in decline here based on occupancy levels over the past couple of years. Now? The industry will be decimated for a long time to come. 

 

Will Japan continue to invest here? Who knows? Will Chinese investment pick up? Probably. Will that be a good thing? Probably not. 

 

The fact is Thailand could be doing a dozen different things to make itself more attractive to both tourism and investment. But, all the things it could do, to make itself a better version of it's current self, would require sacrifice and vision. Not something this army led govt. is capable of. Major tax breaks, drastic lowering of luxury and wine taxes, allowing ownership of land and homes by foreigners, relaxation of inane visa laws, ridding the administration of xenophobic ministers, beginning a program of hiring based on merit, improving traffic safety, paying attention to the air and the environment. The list goes on and on and on. 

 

Will any of this happen? One can hope. But, it is unlikely as this administration is one of the least progressive on planet earth. They love projections, prognosticactions, declarations and platitudes. But when it comes to the nuts and bolts, and practical improvements, they are absolutely lost in space.

Edited June 23, 2020 by spidermike007

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So as per the OP photo above, is the future U-Tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport going to be known by its corresponding call sign of.... URP???

 

[nauseus]

9 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So as per the OP photo above, is the future U-Tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport going to be known by its corresponding call sign of.... URP???

 

No. Airports do not have callsigns. The identification codes are (IATA), UTP and (ICAO), VTBU.

[drbeach]

On 6/23/2020 at 2:13 PM, spidermike007 said:

The dreaming continues. These ministries consider Thailand to be the center of the universe. The world cannot live without Thailand. The level of superiority within Thailand and Thai society on so many levels is obvious. The world sees that, right?

 

No. Wrong. The world can live without that which Thailand has to offer. And the world is a different place, post Covid. Tourism was already in decline here based on occupancy levels over the past couple of years. Now? The industry will be decimated for a long time to come. 

 

Will Japan continue to invest here? Who knows? Will Chinese investment pick up? Probably. Will that be a good thing? Probably not. 

 

The fact is Thailand could be doing a dozen different things to make itself more attractive to both tourism and investment. But, all the things it could do, to make itself a better version of it's current self, would require sacrifice and vision. Not something this army led govt. is capable of. Major tax breaks, drastic lowering of luxury and wine taxes, allowing ownership of land and homes by foreigners, relaxation of inane visa laws, ridding the administration of xenophobic ministers, beginning a program of hiring based on merit, improving traffic safety, paying attention to the air and the environment. The list goes on and on and on. 

 

Will any of this happen? One can hope. But, it is unlikely as this administration is one of the least progressive on planet earth. They love projections, prognosticactions, declarations and platitudes. But when it comes to the nuts and bolts, and practical improvements, they are absolutely lost in space.

In contrast to your rather pessimistic outlook, although it's largely accurate, I do see some signs this is happening. Not sure what ownership of land and homes has to do with anything, but having met up with the BOI myself, I know that foreign investors are being allowed to own the land their investments are located on, which was not previously the case. Talk of allowing 99-year leases is also being mulled, though many Thais are worried about what this could mean to land values and losing their sovereignty.

 

Baby steps maybe but now the TM30 has been simplified. You essentially do it once (some offices may not even require it) and that's it, for the visa you hold.

 

Anutin is a xenophobic minister; can't think of any others though.

 

Air and environment - improving but at a snail's pace. Not unique to Thailand though. Traffic safety - still a big issue but slowly improving.

 

Dual pricing - some talk has been made in this arena recently. A couple of privately operated attractions have confirmed expats can get the local price. A step in the right direction.

 

Luxury taxes - yes this definitely needs to be addressed.

 

Give them some time. I see positive things happening, partially due to external pressure. If nothing much has changed in 5 years then you win the bet. Until then, let's see how things develop.

[Traubert]

On 6/23/2020 at 3:13 PM, spidermike007 said:

The dreaming continues. These ministries consider Thailand to be the center of the universe. The world cannot live without Thailand. The level of superiority within Thailand and Thai society on so many levels is obvious. The world sees that, right?

 

No. Wrong. The world can live without that which Thailand has to offer. And the world is a different place, post Covid. Tourism was already in decline here based on occupancy levels over the past couple of years. Now? The industry will be decimated for a long time to come. 

 

Will Japan continue to invest here? Who knows? Will Chinese investment pick up? Probably. Will that be a good thing? Probably not. 

 

The fact is Thailand could be doing a dozen different things to make itself more attractive to both tourism and investment. But, all the things it could do, to make itself a better version of it's current self, would require sacrifice and vision. Not something this army led govt. is capable of. Major tax breaks, drastic lowering of luxury and wine taxes, allowing ownership of land and homes by foreigners, relaxation of inane visa laws, ridding the administration of xenophobic ministers, beginning a program of hiring based on merit, improving traffic safety, paying attention to the air and the environment. The list goes on and on and on. 

 

Will any of this happen? One can hope. But, it is unlikely as this administration is one of the least progressive on planet earth. They love projections, prognosticactions, declarations and platitudes. But when it comes to the nuts and bolts, and practical improvements, they are absolutely lost in space.

Not the wine again......

 

What's wine got to do with a newly developed airport?

[geriatrickid]

I see the  investment as part of the effort to redevelop the Pattaya area into more of a light industrial zone and convention type of resort destination. Maybe their  tourism and business models show continued growth in visitor traffic and economic development. If so, then yes another large airport would be helpful much as other large international  metropolitan regions have two or more airports.   Paris has Orly and CDG,  London  has Gatwick ,Heathrow & Stansted and New York has LGA, EWR & JFK.  etc.  We already know that BKK can't handle its current volume and DMK is at capacity too. The Bangkok airspace is  full.

 

I am no fan of  the Pattaya region, but if traffic going there could be diverted away from Bangkok it would take the pressure off of Bangkok and boost manufacturing that depends on good air links (e.g. pharmaceuticals, specialized high value electronics, specialty agricultural  goods). It might even offer better connections to the region. I would gladly take a flight to UTP connecting on to Hua Hin. Anything other than the waste of time than transiting through BKK.

 

This is a way to change the region for the better and certainly deserves consideration.  I don't know why every time the Thais show some strategic planning and make an attempt to improve things, it is greeted with a laundry list of perceived slights and tales of woe.