Bangkok Airways eyes investment in proposed Phangnga airport to boost tourism

[webfact]

 

Boosting Thailand’s tourism industry, Bangkok Airways has expressed keen interest in investing in the proposed airport in Phangnga if the government chooses to shift from a public scheme to a collaborative public-private partnership.

 

The fresh investment is seen as a strategic move, as the new airport holds immense potential to become Thailand’s next tourist hotspot.

 

The Thai government’s contemplation over the construction of a new airport at Phangnga stems from the need to alleviate the overcrowding at Phuket airport. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, Bangkok Airways’ president, sees this potential project as a lucrative opportunity which could open up a new passage for airlines transporting passengers to southern Thailand.

 

According to Puttipong, expanding the runway at Phuket airport is not currently feasible, making the construction of a second airport within proximity a viable solution to accommodate additional flights. Moreover, he added, Phangnga is garnering recognition as an up-and-coming destination amongst foreign travellers.

 

by Alex Morgan

Picture courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/business/bangkok-airways-eyes-investment-in-proposed-phangnga-airport-to-boost-tourism

 

-- The Thaiger 2023-09-09

 

- 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.

 

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[impulse]

One could make the argument that an airport investment by Bangkok Airways actually reduces tourism, by driving up the cost of flights in and out.

Edited September 9, 2023 by impulse

[khunPer]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

One could make the argument that an airport investment by Bangkok Airways actually reduces tourism, by driving up the cost of flights in and out.

Well, but it was important in creating Samui's tourism and looked at the number of flights and passengers, it seems to be quite the opposite...

[impulse]

25 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Well, but it was important in creating Samui's tourism and looked at the number of flights and passengers, it seems to be quite the opposite...

But how many more tourists (especially domestic tourists) would fly in and out if the price of tickets were more competitive?   

 

I've read probably hundreds of posts here about the lengths people will go to in order to avoid the high cost of flying into the airport monopolized by BA.

 

Samui was gonna get an airport, whether it was gub'ment funded or BA funded.  Seems like Phangna will, too.  I'm just not sure that selling BA a monopoly is the best plan for all stakeholders in the long term.

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by impulse

[natway09]

Bangkok Airways developed & opened Koh Samui 10 years before the Government would have got around to it & ran it as a boutique airport  it is great.

It's only expensive to you because we are spoilt in Thailand & maybe Indonesia for internal flying.

Check out NZ or UK for internal airfares of that mileage. I rest my case.

 

[Adumbration]

The real reason why the airport will be built in Phang Nga cannot be mentioned here.

[impulse]

12 hours ago, natway09 said:

Bangkok Airways developed & opened Koh Samui 10 years before the Government would have got around to it & ran it as a boutique airport  it is great.

It's only expensive to you because we are spoilt in Thailand & maybe Indonesia for internal flying.

Check out NZ or UK for internal airfares of that mileage. I rest my case.

Know who else is spoilt by the low cost of internal tickets?  The millions of Thai domestic tourists who go elsewhere because they can't (or don't want to) pay boutique prices.  Spending their domestic tourism cash at other locations.  

 

The price of tickets in NZ or UK have nothing to do with whether Thai people can afford a flight to Samui.

[khunPer]

On 9/9/2023 at 9:56 AM, impulse said:

But how many more tourists (especially domestic tourists) would fly in and out if the price of tickets were more competitive?   

 

I've read probably hundreds of posts here about the lengths people will go to in order to avoid the high cost of flying into the airport monopolized by BA.

 

Samui was gonna get an airport, whether it was gub'ment funded or BA funded.  Seems like Phangna will, too.  I'm just not sure that selling BA a monopoly is the best plan for all stakeholders in the long term.

 

Actually, plenty of domestic tourists come and it seems like they prefers to bring their cars also, so they use road and ferry.

 

Nobody was interested in funding an airport on Samui at that time, but Bangkok Airways. It's built for private money instead of tax funds, so there are nobody but the users to pay for it. Any airline can fly to USM and a number others than Bangkok Airways also do it.

 

The private airport project on the northern tip of Phangan is to my knowledge stopped. According to the news there were problems with rights for land use. Furthermore, the runway would be very short, just around 1200 meters; it's hard to find space on Phangan. It was planned to handle an ATR-42 aircraft.

 

It's in a way a huge benefit for Samui that the airfare prices are high and the runway too short for long haul aircrafts – the size of the island makes some limits here – it's a small island with an infra structure that cannot handle massive package tourism.

 

Furthermore, it's not a problem to get to Samui and Phangan at an affordable price, just travel as the the original tourists did, when the island was "paradise" – the folks from those days in general think it was destroyed by opening an airport, so hard to think of what further tourism from budget flights and a longer runway could do to improve that image... – just take the train or bus and thereafter sail to Samui and Phangan; alternatively you can fly to Surat Thani or Nakhon Si Thammarat and continue from there, some airlines offers a package including bus and ferry...????

 

And by the way, Samui is in general little more expensive than many other places, because of being an island – apart from airfares people also complains about that – so those that cannot afford "the high costs" to fly in might also not like the prices on the island...????

 

And what about Koh Chang, a great alternative if you wish to visit an island and about half the distance from Bangkok. Some says that it's like Samui once was before it got smashed by building an airport. Seems like folks visiting Koh Chang don't complain about Bangkok Airways' airport monopoly in Trat at the mainland, they use the road instead.