Samui Residents To Bid For New Airport In Monopoly Challenge

[samui34samui]

As I have said elsewhere as a recent ex pat here I came with my eyes wide open on this issue, the prices are what they are and I will live with them.

Now - there are prices of 11,000 to 12,000 baht ONE WAY!

Prices 11,000-12,000 THB are NOT for BKK USM direct. They are for the BKK - CNX - USM route (stupid I reckon).

The most expensive you will pay (and it's way too expensive) is 9,370 THB round trip, if you fly economy

Edited October 6, 2011 by samui34samui

[Rooo]

Topic is about new airport. Another one is available for rants

[carmine]

Samui residents challenging the monopoly are they They must be bored.

Are there expat residents here who still live in the illusion that the Thais here actually give a dam_n what they think?

They don't, and they never will, and frankly, why should they? Its their country to improve or ruin as they see fit. Putting up with corrupt monopolies and abject stupidity is a compromise of living here and should merely be viewed with amusement because you won't change things at all. BKK Airways, rip off airline, is here to stay to toy with our wallts as it see fit with the full cooperation of government.

Naivity in the extreme

[oldsailor35]

As I have said elsewhere as a recent ex pat here I came with my eyes wide open on this issue, the prices are what they are and I will live with them.

It is difficult to respond to this without it becoming another Bandit Airways rant thread.

11 years ago, I was a recent ex-pat and I came with my eyes wide open on this issue. Prices were what they were. On average, 3,000 to 4,500 baht round trip to BKK.

Now - there are prices of 11,000 to 12,000 baht ONE WAY! oh, and the fuel surcharge - avfuel has gone down in price over the last few years, but on Samui - it goes up and never comes down.

I used to be a great believer in Bandit Airways. Food was good, service, price, everything was OK. Now it is just overpriced rip-offs. Any competition would kill this company and the airport, that's why it will never happen.

How will you feel when flights to BKK are 20,000 baht plus? It WILL happen.

Icing on the cake - flew with PG to PNP last year to see friends - got food poisoning on the flight back! Do not eat the fish curry.

"Competition would kill this company"......rubbish, they fly all over Thailand, only difference is, they would have to charge reasonable fares like they do to other destinations !

[oldsailor35]

Sick of the mentality of local Samui. I'm thinking of moving to the Philippines

Byeeeeeeeeeee

[oldsailor35]

Three or four years ago Air Asia bought 600 Rai at Don Sak for exactly this purpose but gave up on the idea. They were going to run a high speed ferry between Don Sak and Koh Samui.

When Bangkok Airways redeveloped the existing airport they created the Samui Airport Property Fund which sold out at 10.9 Billion Baht with reported earnings of 10.9%. This fund effectively paid for the new airport although the runway was already there. Who is contributing to that - the passengers as we well know.

Now building a new airport would not be cheap if it is going to be big enough to handle the larger aircraft and meet international aviation standards. Who is going to fund this? Do Samui Residents have that amount of money to invest? (Maybe we should ask the taxi drivers to stump up!) It can only be done by Thais (in my opinion) partly of course due to land ownership issues but also because powerful political forces would be needed to see this through.

Still cannot see why they cannot build out into the bay, its not deep and it has been done all over the world.

[Boater]

Three or four years ago Air Asia bought 600 Rai at Don Sak for exactly this purpose but gave up on the idea. They were going to run a high speed ferry between Don Sak and Koh Samui.

When Bangkok Airways redeveloped the existing airport they created the Samui Airport Property Fund which sold out at 10.9 Billion Baht with reported earnings of 10.9%. This fund effectively paid for the new airport although the runway was already there. Who is contributing to that - the passengers as we well know.

Now building a new airport would not be cheap if it is going to be big enough to handle the larger aircraft and meet international aviation standards. Who is going to fund this? Do Samui Residents have that amount of money to invest? (Maybe we should ask the taxi drivers to stump up!) It can only be done by Thais (in my opinion) partly of course due to land ownership issues but also because powerful political forces would be needed to see this through.

Still cannot see why they cannot build out into the bay, its not deep and it has been done all over the world.

the backhander to the marine department wouldnt make in feasible

[ydraw]

Still cannot see why they cannot build out into the bay, its not deep and it has been done all over the world.

The cost would be the main one. The Thai goverment has nothing to gain from building a new airport at Samui. They will only lose money by doing it. Samui only ranks #6 in the list of Thailand's busiest airports. The island is already serviced adequately by transport infrastructure.

That's the main reason that we are stuck with Bangkok Airways. You really don't need all these conspiracy theories about backhanders etc. At the end of the day the Thai government doesn't see a few tourists being overcharged for flights by a Thai company as a very serious issue.

[marstons]

How will you feel when flights to BKK are 20,000 baht plus? It WILL happen.

I hear what you're saying, but prices can only go so high before people start to make alternative arranngements, ie car, train, bus.

and do the people that run BKK air really care what people think ? , i mean look at the picture from there last board meeting

I got 2k Baht off the last fare by nicking their PG Tips!

Wll if their a bunch of monkeys running it they are one hell of rich bunch of monkeys. one has to wonder should this be aimed at the people paying the prices or the management. Departure lounnge maybe

[BigC]

can't bangkok airways offer shares to residents on samui only as giving something back to the island?

[Tropicalevo]

can't bangkok airways offer shares to residents on samui only as giving something back to the island?

[tinfoilhat]

How will you feel when flights to BKK are 20,000 baht plus? It WILL happen.

I hear what you're saying, but prices can only go so high before people start to make alternative arranngements, ie car, train, bus.

and do the people that run BKK air really care what people think ? , i mean look at the picture from there last board meeting

as they seem to be making money hand over fist, have managed a monopoly on the island, serve the worst in flight food known to man, own an airport that forces punters to walk a kilometer in hot sunshine to only to linger in un air-conditioned lounges drinking cut rate orange drink and still manage to call themselves boutique without even a smirk, I would venture that they aren't exactly chimps in the boardroom.

I hate em, but i still use them because ultimately my health, safety and time are worth more to me than a lomprayah crossing and a bus, train or whatever else it would take to get door to door from bkk

the worst thing about bangkok air is it deposits me on samui when all i want to do is get to my house on phangan

[BigC]

can't bangkok airways offer shares to residents on samui only as giving something back to the island?

I am serious anyone wi a residence card should have the option to buy shares.

[Tropicalevo]

can't bangkok airways offer shares to residents on samui only as giving something back to the island?

I am serious anyone wi a residence card should have the option to buy shares.

Big C I am sure that you were being serious. It is just the thought of Bandit Airways giving ANYTHING back to the island that made me fall off my chair.

[smokie36]

can't bangkok airways offer shares to residents on samui only as giving something back to the island?

I am serious anyone wi a residence card should have the option to buy shares.

Big C I am sure that you were being serious. It is just the thought of Bandit Airways giving ANYTHING back to the island that made me fall off my chair.

Such cynicism eh BigC....its no wonder the airline doesn't love us all any more....

[Boater]

New airport unlikely, mayor says

SAMUI doesn’t have much space to build a second airport, Mayor Ramnate Jaikwang said recently.

The mayor said he understood the need for another airport to bring down the cost of air tick- ets to Samui. But the island no longer has vast track of lands for the new airport’s runways.

Leveling mountains to be developed into an airport could destroy the island’s environment and ecological balance, he added.

http://www.samuiexpress.net/home/news/local-news/general-news/620-new-airport-unlikely-mayor-says

[Tropicalevo]

Well - the Samui Express frontpage news today is "Govt ordes study on second airport".

"Other alternative locations suggested by the private sector are Donsak and Koh Phangnan".

The cost is quoted at Bt 1 billion - not including maintenance and other costs.

Here we go again

Edited June 22, 2012 by Tropicalevo

[marstons]

can't bangkok airways offer shares to residents on samui only as giving something back to the island?

I am serious anyone wi a residence card should have the option to buy shares.

Thats not giving some thing back to the island but to people with Bangkok Airways Residents Cards. Not quite the same! But why should they or why would they want to.

[notmyself]

Well - the Samui Express frontpage news today is "Govt ordes study on second airport".

"Other alternative locations suggested by the private sector are Donsak and Koh Phangnan".

The cost is quoted at Bt 1 billion - not including maintenance and other costs.

Here we go again

Well that's it then, as soon as you hear the words 'govt has ordered study' you know full well it has been kicked into the grass.

There is no question that the existing airport is big enough to handle a substantial increase in traffic so it's just (just lol) a matter of Bangkok Airways being told in no uncertain terms to release their grip. As another member pointed out, the shopping area is a complete waste of space and seems to be in a perpetual state of extreme low season. Maybe they should change the frontage into a scene from the old wild west so a tumbleweed would not look out of place.

Just off the top of my head I would say the airport would average during a whole day 1 flight inbound every 45 minutes and 1 flight outbound. Does that sound like the existing airport is being in any way pushed?

If there was no market for flights then you wouldn't have the hoards of people getting the boat over to Surat and flying from there.