Phang Nga Airport on tourism officials’ agenda

The Phuket News


Chula Sukmanop

PHUKET: The Department of Airports and the National Committee for Tourism are reviewing a proposal for a new airport to be built in Phang Nga as way of taking increasing pressure off Phuket International Airport.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, in announcing on April 15 that the TAT will propose the construction of Phang Nga Airport to the National Policy Committee for Tourism, said the airport construction would take three to five years to complete.

“The new airport will also be a transit hub to other destinations, and help relieve passenger congestion at Phuket International Airport,” he said.

Three investment options were being considered for the construction, Gov Yuthasak added. “The government or the private sector may be the sole investor, or the airport could be a result of a joint-investment scheme,” he said.

Chula Sukmanop, who at the time was the Director-General of the Department of Airports but is now the head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), confirmed on April 21 that representatives of local industries and provincial governments of four provinces – Phang Nga, Bueng Kan, Mukdahan and Kanchanaburi – had submitted formal requests to his office asking to build airports in their provinces.

Mr Chula confirmed that he had assigned officials to inspect the sites for proposed airports and to investigate further to determine whether each proposal was worthy of investment.

“If the new airports opened, would enough airlines want to provide services there?” he posed. “We also need to examine the number of passengers. How many will they have?

“We have to consider many details every time we want to open a new airport. We have discovered that some airports we have previously invested in, such as those at Petchabun, Tak and Nakhon Ratchasima, were a waste because the number of passengers using those facilities was small.

“It was not worth the money we spent to build the airport. As a result, airlines refused to provide services there, and there is nothing we can do to make them fly there,” he said.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phang-nga-airport-on-tourism-officials-agenda-57722.php#00bogRFObgS32qod.97

-- Phuket News 2016-06-05

Pls not!

Follow the money. Like proposing a new airport in the middle of no-where-ville Lamphun province to serve Chiang Mai province. That's a bad idea looking for a place to happen. But the developers, taxi services, and local governments see nought but "฿฿฿฿฿฿"

Khao Lak and northward coastal regions ripe for tourist expansion, Phang-Nga Airport is going to happen. Bank on it.