Koh Phangan Airport

[stevehaigh]

Holy moley... . I've not been to Pai for a few years now, I don't think they had these fandagled flying machines then... but is 1490 baht from CM! I remember paying 60 baht on the public bus, a nice 3 hour drive if I remember....

'a nice 3 hour drive'! in the way that a root canal is a relaxing break, like a oil massage for your mouth.

[sbk]

I wonder how well these jets land on steep hills? As far as I am aware there is not any continuous flat area anywhere near TNP for a plane to land.

I did not say anything about jets.....I also mentioned landing strip. I am not living on Phangan, but next time you are around Tansadet waterfall near Kung Bungalow, have a look if you can spot the clearing (or the started clearing) of a 1.5 km long area.

I do live here,this being my 9th year and you are correct,work had stopped but now full activity!! Spoke with a few locals here.... it's not good news from what i hear But i fully go along with the funny comments,i have had many chuckles so thank you,but something big is happening their for sure that maybe my laughter will soon stop!!! From this to this

Ok, so not jets but rather small airplanes from Kan Air that are sure to bring in the hordes. Or however many hordes those wee little airplanes can hold anyway.

[Rooo]

KAN AIR:

http://www.kanairlines.com/web/index.php/page/content/Caravan208B/WE1022/WE1022

[kohphangan]

I wonder how well these jets land on steep hills? As far as I am aware there is not any continuous flat area anywhere near TNP for a plane to land.

I did not say anything about jets.....I also mentioned landing strip. I am not living on Phangan, but next time you are around Tansadet waterfall near Kung Bungalow, have a look if you can spot the clearing (or the started clearing) of a 1.5 km long area.

I do live here,this being my 9th year and you are correct,work had stopped but now full activity!! Spoke with a few locals here.... it's not good news from what i hear But i fully go along with the funny comments,i have had many chuckles so thank you,but something big is happening their for sure that maybe my laughter will soon stop!!! From this to this

Ok, so not jets but rather small airplanes from Kan Air that are sure to bring in the hordes. Or however many hordes those wee little airplanes can hold anyway.

Next time i go past that way i will take my own camera,a thai friend of mine went to the area the day before i posted my previous message and showed me his photo's.

It's a big area they are clearing,but for jets,i think not,but as you point out aircraft size of Kan Air this does seem possible,however i have no idea exactly how much landing strip is needed so will comment no more.

As for the hordes of people flying in on planes,it may be a good start to have hordes of people coming to the island the old fashioned way of boats.

Koh phangan has been really quiet since the end of April,after having a busy prior 3 months just after mid-April Songkran period it has been as quiet as a monsoon season.

It still amazes me that travel books still have no idea of the monsoon pattern of Thailand. I constantly have to correct tourist after tourist that have made it down here saying.Comment after comment such as quote " Well we know it's off season,but we are very lucky with the weather!"

Please note that when Thai,or Western business owners,travel books talk of low season,just remember they are talking of customers and Major Holiday periods!! Not the weather!!

Business owners do not help by constantly telling KP newbies it's off season,this in their minds means "RAIN" for anyone wishing to come by boat or Plane if a suntan is your number One objective avoid the areas of Koh Phangan - Samui and koh Tao during period of October to end Dec.

And yes even the Christmas New Year period it is possible to have plenty of rain,monsoon the worst is over by then,but it often turns ugly with scattered rain storms. As last New Year complete wash out for most the part. Screams of it's high season ring through my ears once more.

And if this project ever goes ahead i know i will be avoiding that match box size plane,i live north West of this planned area and at times we have strong and i mean strong winds!!! Good luck and hold on!!

As said i will take my camera down soon and post some pictures of what i have seen,not what others have seen.... kind regards

PS.... It's apparently Off Season right now and guess what? Blue skies 32-35c has been now for months and NO Tourist!! Where are they? West coast in the Monsoon period? Although looking at their weather over Phi Phi Krabi Phuket seem's our patterns are changing.November 2011 was the mildest monsoon i have seen in 8 years and from what i see on windguru.com (Very Good weather station) looks like West coast not having it to bad.

[Tropicalevo]

PS.... It's apparently Off Season right now and guess what? Blue skies 32-35c has been now for months and NO Tourist!! Where are they? West coast in the Monsoon period? Although looking at their weather over Phi Phi Krabi Phuket seem's our patterns are changing.November 2011 was the mildest monsoon i have seen in 8 years and from what i see on windguru.com (Very Good weather station) looks like West coast not having it to bad.

Hmmm slightly off topic (lots really), but the off season is due to the lack of official holidays in most countries that our tourists come from.

Plenty of holidays in Dec to April (Christmas, Chinese NY , Easter, etc)

May and June - not much.

July August - school break in Europe - high season again. and so on.

BTW Windguru for the next week shows some rain 6 days out of 7 over Samui.

http://www.windguru....ex.php?sc=30397

I was of the impression that June/July were summer monsoon. Short sharp showers on most days!

Back on topic - I really hope that there is another airport somewhere. I do not want to give Bandit Airways any more of my hard earned dosh.

[kohphangan]

PS.... It's apparently Off Season right now and guess what? Blue skies 32-35c has been now for months and NO Tourist!! Where are they? West coast in the Monsoon period? Although looking at their weather over Phi Phi Krabi Phuket seem's our patterns are changing.November 2011 was the mildest monsoon i have seen in 8 years and from what i see on windguru.com (Very Good weather station) looks like West coast not having it to bad.

Hmmm slightly off topic (lots really), but the off season is due to the lack of official holidays in most countries that our tourists come from.

Plenty of holidays in Dec to April (Christmas, Chinese NY , Easter, etc)

May and June - not much.

July August - school break in Europe - high season again. and so on.

BTW Windguru for the next week shows some rain 6 days out of 7 over Samui.

http://www.windguru....ex.php?sc=30397

I was of the impression that June/July were summer monsoon. Short sharp showers on most days!

Back on topic - I really hope that there is another airport somewhere. I do not want to give Bandit Airways any more of my hard earned dosh.

Yes i had the feeling i was wondering off topic,but i was more trying to answer,put across my reasoning to "sbk" mention of "Hordes" of people.

If i now answer or give you the full correct version of what happens during every month of life on Koh phangan ( I am as good as full time living here) we will be once again completely be going off topic .

If you really want to know what goes on here please ask and i will kindly message you in private. But you are wrong

With the top end 5* hotels now offering pick up at Samui airport,transfer to pier and fast speedboat right to your door,i have to ask is it needed? And you can still fly Thai Airways into Samui if so disgusted with BA. I have flown many,many times with BA i am a happy customer,never had a problem with them and the slightly over price for a short internal flight is only making it seem over prised because of exchange rates.

I am English still using the pound as my currency exchange and since 2002 till current year month of present the price of BA has really not changed much.However flying from Bangkok - Samui lets say 2005-2006 i was getting high 70baht to my £ which was very good value.However at 43-50 which it's been now for 18 months or more is making it appear over priced,not really their fault.

I do have a question if you can help,where exactly would this small Kan air style of plane be taking off from? Would you seriously want to fly long distance in one of those things . If the flight path is Bangkok - Koh Phangan direct would that not take longer than Thai Airways jet transfer and fast boat to your door.

So probably paying more for a service that is slower,more uncomfortable Dangerous and landing further away seems just a little bit off being crazy minded.But then again we are dealing with crazy like minded people who spend 10,000 -30,000 baht a night to sleep when round the corner it's 300-600baht Idiots with money in my opinion,idiots that will be coming into land heading very close to sea and lots of mountain and trees.

Enjoy your flight

[sbk]

Since the power was off all morning we decided to "go past that way" which is, frankly, a misnomer. You must turn off the Thong Nai Pan Road and go down a very poor mostly dirt road to find a very short paved stretch (I am not even going to ask why money was spent on this one short stretch and yet the rest of the road is quite bad with some bits 4 wheel drive only) to a small clearing that is being filled in with dirt by some (not alot) of dump trucks and a potential landing strip that looks as though it will run right off the edge of the cliff.

I know who owns the property and well, lets just say after living here a few years, am in wait and see mode as to the idea that this will bring "big things" to the island.

Its not as good as it looks:

the landing area from close up

the "airport" from the hill near by, if you look closely you can see the edge of the mountain there

[insertmembernamehere]

A helipad?

[kohphangan]

Since the power was off all morning we decided to "go past that way" which is, frankly, a misnomer. You must turn off the Thong Nai Pan Road and go down a very poor mostly dirt road to find a very short paved stretch (I am not even going to ask why money was spent on this one short stretch and yet the rest of the road is quite bad with some bits 4 wheel drive only) to a small clearing that is being filled in with dirt by some (not alot) of dump trucks and a potential landing strip that looks as though it will run right off the edge of the cliff.

I know who owns the property and well, lets just say after living here a few years, am in wait and see mode as to the idea that this will bring "big things" to the island.

Its not as good as it looks:

the landing area from close up

the "airport" from the hill near by, if you look closely you can see the edge of the mountain there

You have saved me a journey and thank you for posting. Makes me wonder who is the owner of the land you know,and that is wonder not care.

post #68 is interesting comment,but as my previous question where would that be taking off and why? Golf course idea is not a way off wacky comment,years ago i did hear rumours of one being disused. We do have golf range now,that's recently new,Samui do hold Asian Tour.

Thank you again for your pictures and update.

[crazykopite]

I wonder how well these jets land on steep hills? As far as I am aware there is not any continuous flat area anywhere near TNP for a plane to land.

I did not say anything about jets.....I also mentioned landing strip. I am not living on Phangan, but next time you are around Tansadet waterfall near Kung Bungalow, have a look if you can spot the clearing (or the started clearing) of a 1.5 km long area.

And I thought it was for a golf driving range !!!!!! oh dear better sell the clubs !!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigC]

if they opened anew airport DOnsak wouldbe the best place and easiest for all as all traffic from all islands pass through there. easy access via car, foot and motor bike

[Bemused]

Building a small aiport In Koh Phangan only makes sense commercially if there is a large busy airport in Southern Thailand.

The runway looks tiny and the kind of planes it can accommodate will only be capable of travelling relatively short distances. There isn't much traffic coming through Surat Thani airport. Running a shuttle service from Samui wouldn't have many takers as speed boats can do the journey to Thong Nai Pan in under an hour, quicker to the main port. The developers clearly believe that at some point in the future there will be a transport major hub on the mainland somehwere in Surat Thai province.

Even small airports aren't cheap and there must be a bank or banks backing behind the project. No bank would be backing a runway on Koh Phangan if they weren't fairly sure that there was going to be a massive increase in air travel to Southern Thailand. No point setting up a shuttle service if there is no one to shuttle.

[tinfoilhat]

Building a small aiport In Koh Phangan only makes sense commercially if there is a large busy airport in Southern Thailand.

The runway looks tiny and the kind of planes it can accommodate will only be capable of travelling relatively short distances. There isn't much traffic coming through Surat Thani airport. Running a shuttle service from Samui wouldn't have many takers as speed boats can do the journey to Thong Nai Pan in under an hour, quicker to the main port. The developers clearly believe that at some point in the future there will be a transport major hub on the mainland somehwere in Surat Thai province.

Even small airports aren't cheap and there must be a bank or banks backing behind the project. No bank would be backing a runway on Koh Phangan if they weren't fairly sure that there was going to be a massive increase in air travel to Southern Thailand. No point setting up a shuttle service if there is no one to shuttle.

surat to koh pahngan would be a nice little hop, as would Nakorn.

[samuijimmy]

I was told six more months, the other day.... by one involved in this.

I think this will be serving the "elite" at the high end hotels, not "mainstream" travelers...

Thanks SBK for taking the time to get the photos, saved me trying again, on that I would guess still dusty dirt road!

[kohphangan]

Since the power was off all morning we decided to "go past that way" which is, frankly, a misnomer. You must turn off the Thong Nai Pan Road and go down a very poor mostly dirt road to find a very short paved stretch (I am not even going to ask why money was spent on this one short stretch and yet the rest of the road is quite bad with some bits 4 wheel drive only) to a small clearing that is being filled in with dirt by some (not alot) of dump trucks and a potential landing strip that looks as though it will run right off the edge of the cliff.

I know who owns the property and well, lets just say after living here a few years, am in wait and see mode as to the idea that this will bring "big things" to the island.

Its not as good as it looks:

the landing area from close up

the "airport" from the hill near by, if you look closely you can see the edge of the mountain there

You have saved me a journey and thank you for posting. Makes me wonder who is the owner of the land you know,and that is wonder not care.

post #68 is interesting comment,but as my previous question where would that be taking off and why? Golf course idea is not a way off wacky comment,years ago i did hear rumours of one being disused. We do have golf range now,that's recently new,Samui do hold Asian Tour.

Thank you again for your pictures and update.

I know who owns the property and well, lets just say after living here a few years, am in wait and see mode as to the idea that this will bring "big things" to the island.

Hello sbk... Fully understand now ... I now know who you mean and starts to make some kind of sense.

Maybe this new big airport Suratthani area is replacement for Swampy Sink holes,delays now at Swampy. It only just survived the floods on the surface outlook,the damage underground?? Who knows how much damage it really took.

[shafty]

Hi,

I have no idea if these are pictures of the new "small" airport but has anyone information about the plans of the "big" airport? Is this only the dream of some people round here and will never be finished or do you think there is a chance they could really build an international airport on Koh Phangan?

[samuijimmy]

Hi,

I have no idea if these are pictures of the new "small" airport but has anyone information about the plans of the "big" airport? Is this only the dream of some people round here and will never be finished or do you think there is a chance they could really build an international airport on Koh Phangan?

I think when pigs can fly.... where on earth could they put a big one anyway ?

[shafty]

Hi,

I have no idea if these are pictures of the new "small" airport but has anyone information about the plans of the "big" airport? Is this only the dream of some people round here and will never be finished or do you think there is a chance they could really build an international airport on Koh Phangan?

I think when pigs can fly.... where on earth could they put a big one anyway ?

Dear Samuijimmy they have already started preparing it. I just want to know if there is any chance they will ever finish anything...

The plans sound megalomaniac to me but I don´t know much about construction

[samuijimmy]

Hi,

I have no idea if these are pictures of the new "small" airport but has anyone information about the plans of the "big" airport? Is this only the dream of some people round here and will never be finished or do you think there is a chance they could really build an international airport on Koh Phangan?

I think when pigs can fly.... where on earth could they put a big one anyway ?

Dear Samuijimmy they have already started preparing it. I just want to know if there is any chance they will ever finish anything...

The plans sound megalomaniac to me but I don´t know much about construction

Oh!...... they have..... where????

This is news on a second one.... then!

Spill the beans!

If you mean the one near TNP that's very old news!

[sbk]

International airport? Where?

[shafty]

On the west coast of Phangan. Please let me mention again that I don't know if you know about all these plans for such a long time already that you forgot about it because you know it will never happen

I also don't know if the people that would like to build it will ever manage to get the approval for it from the higher instances.

The only fact I can provide is that there are peope that plan (dream about?) a "bigger airport", that they are not involved in any construction in TNP and that they know about "the other airport" somewhere else (TNP?).

[samuijimmy]

On the west coast of Phangan. Please let me mention again that I don't know if you know about all these plans for such a long time already that you forgot about it because you know it will never happen

I also don't know if the people that would like to build it will ever manage to get the approval for it from the higher instances.

The only fact I can provide is that there are peope that plan (dream about?) a "bigger airport", that they are not involved in any construction in TNP and that they know about "the other airport" somewhere else (TNP?).

The topic of a large Airport on KP has being going on for longer than I lived or been visiting Thailand ...... I'm willing to bet it will never happen....

There is no room on the west coast for an airport anyway!

And who are these people that know about the 'OTHER" airport...? ..... do they sit in the bar day and night making up stories?

[shafty]

I guess that would be good news if they were hanging out in bars...

Regarding the space, I mentioned the plans sound megalomaniac to me.

Anyway, thanks for telling me this is nothing new to all of you so I hope we can still relax some years until they send us the big birds

Sent from my Android using Thaivisa Connect App

[shafty]

hmmm...the airport thing will be discussed with higher instances of the parlament in BKK this month... lets see.

[Boater]

A few Thai people are reporting on Facebook bkk air are doing the airport on the island

[Tropicalevo]

A few Thai people are reporting on Facebook bkk air are doing the airport on the island

Oh joy.

You certainly know how to spoil a beautiful sunny Sunday morning Boater.

[Partygirl]

Yes people,

give me more!!!

[Partygirl]

Not Bangkok Airways,

AEROFLOT !

[samuijimmy]

Not Bangkok Airways,

AEROFLOT !

[appydayz]

The building of the new airport at Tan nai pan/ Sadet is underway. Im unsure of its size,but have been told that they are going to start with small charter planes{ 30 seats }..mainly used to deliver tourists to the local resorts.....fingers crossed they will do other flights too....meaning us Samuians wont have to pay Bangkok airways ripoff prices.