by Na-ark Rojanasuvan

    

BANGKOK (NNT) - Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) has announced plans to continue its expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport. The move comes amid an improving global pandemic situation, which is allowing more freedom of travel for tourists.

 

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob projected that the international airport will see increasing activity after the situation in Ukraine eases and China relaxes its travel restrictions. Development of existing terminals in the eastern wing and expansions to the northern wing are therefore needed to better facilitate incoming visitors in the near future.

 

According to AOT, the development of the eastern wing will have a budget of 7.8 billion baht. Once complete, it will be able to handle 15 million annual passengers.

 

Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe

 

AOT is also working to connect the eastern and the northern wings in order to better accommodate passengers. It will submit its draft plan to the Ministry of Transport and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council for approval before being implemented. The draft plan is currently undergoing a feasibility study and is expected to be completed in 2023.

 

Concerning the northern wing expansion, Minister Saksayam estimated that the plan will require a budget of 41.2 billion. The new terminal will be able to handle 30 million annual travelers and can be further developed to facilitate an additional 10 million.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2022-06-01

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

They must carry on apace with this development to make sure all those involved, including the contractors get their fair share of the kick-backs before a truly democratic and accountable government is voted in. Guess that should give them plenty of time ????

"Proceed as Planned" is an odd term to use, considering that there have been unresolved arguments for several years as to exactly which plan to use - the original master plan for the airport, or the revised plan dreamed up by the current government. 

 

Though (as usual) there is no diagram to explain or illustrate what they're really talking about, it sounds as though they're going through with the "revised" plan, a decision that will end up having effects that cascade down onto things like transit planning (since some planned/proposed rail lines were going to serve the southern terminal that would have been built under the airport master plan).

Better to spend money in the north, south east and west for direct flights from international destinations and take the strain off of just one airport.